Unintended Consequences

Be careful what you wish for

Photo by Toimetaja tõlkebüroo on Unsplash

Have you ever gone on a diet, try to exercise, or try to become more productive only to become fatter, lazier, and idler?

Then, welcome to the law of unintended consequences, a world where good intentions can have nefarious results.

The Cobra effect

In the time of British colonial rule in India, there was a problem with venomous cobras, so the government tried to get rid of them. They offered a reward for every cobra that was killed. Soon, some clever entrepreneurs started breeding them in order to claim the prize. Eventually, the British realized this and stopped the scheme. All those cobras that had been bred were released and their population increased.

This became known as the cobra effect and illustrates the pervasive tendency of complex systems to backfire when messing with them despite good intentions.

There are numerous examples of this in politics, the economy, the environment, and many other domains.

• The introduction of invasive species like rabbits in Australia created havoc in the habitat due to the lack of predators for them.
• Prohibition of alcohol in the US increased its consumption
• Interventionism in the Middle East with the purpose of pacifying…