Althouse: "It’s a very exciting idea. In every generation, it’s males creating males. Eventually the population runs out of females, and you’re done."

January 30, 2016

"It’s a very exciting idea. In every generation, it’s males creating males. Eventually the population runs out of females, and you’re done."

Do it!

21 comments:

chickelit said...: It's high time to ban all incoming mosquitoes until our government can figure out what's going on.; 1/30/16, 11:34 AM
Michael K said...: As Joe Biden would say, the answer is in three words; DDT; 1/30/16, 11:34 AM
rcocean said...: Lets not condemn all mosquitoes based on the actions of the few.

That's not who we are.; 1/30/16, 11:47 AM
Anonymous said...: Kill them all and let God sort them into piles...; 1/30/16, 12:01 PM
Pettifogger said...: I am the owner of rural land I call Rancho el Mosquito. By all means, bring this on. No more inhaling mosquitoes from the clouds of them surrounding me.; 1/30/16, 12:04 PM
n.n said...: Dreams of male wombs. War on women.; 1/30/16, 12:47 PM
Gahrie said...: Apparently, mosquitoes aren't cute enough to worry about saving.....; 1/30/16, 1:06 PM
bleh said...: Women good

Men bad; 1/30/16, 1:09 PM
jr565 said...: If you're going to do it the question is HOW? Are environmentalists going to sign off on us killing mosquitos if it requires us to use DDT? They had an issue in Africa. How many people got malaria because of their scare mongering?; 1/30/16, 1:11 PM
eric said...: Don't we ever think of the ramifications of our actions?

Everyone hates the mosquito, but if you believe in God like I do, then you figure he created it to have a purpose. A purpose to balance things out.

I was once told by an atheist that the reasons Christians and believers can't do science as well as atheists is because of assumptions. The Christian will believe their is a purpose to every part of our body, while the atheist can safely assume that one part can fall off and not be needed anymore, like the little finger or appendix.

Well here, it looks like the atheist is assuming that the Mosquito has no good use to our ecology. My assumption is that they do have a positive use and we might want to figure out if that's the case before we go and wipe them all out.; 1/30/16, 1:52 PM
Wince said...: Don't worry.

President Obama is negotiating a deal with the mosquitoes where we give the mosquitos all the blood they want and all the mosquitos agree to never bite us ever again.; 1/30/16, 2:00 PM
n.n said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/30/16, 2:40 PM
n.n said...: eric:

It may not appeal to common intuition, but the perspective is actually more complex. Christians and people with a similar religious/moral philosophy are advised against corrupting healthy tissue a la "Hippocratic Oath". Atheists do not have a uniform moral foundation. For example, those individuals who place their faith in an anthropomorphized "theory of evolution", are predisposed to discover patterns of purpose, form, and progress. This engenders arguments of viability, utility, value, etc., which may exist outside of a scientific frame of reference, as much as any purely faith-based argument. The only prerequisite for scientific practice is to discern and distinguish between logical domains.

As for mosquito-borne disease remediation, the rule of thumb is to act in moderation, because accuracy is inversely proportional to time and space, and science is intentionally a [limited] frame-based philosophy. In particular, we have to be concerned with misalignment between observation and perception, and actions with cascade effects. The best advice is to follow best practices of risk management, and after reconciling natural imperatives with our religious/moral philosophy, give priority to human life and welfare.; 1/30/16, 2:51 PM
Leon said...: Mosquitos pollinate stuff. Ask the Chinese about killing pesky sparrows. Millions died; 1/30/16, 2:59 PM
David said...: What's the annual biomass of mosquitos? It likely is surprisingly large. What percentage of them are being eaten, and by what other creatures? What is the impact of the decaying biomass that dies and is not eaten?

And as Leon asks, what is the role of mosquitos in plant pollination?

My guess is that mosquitos are eaten mostly by fish and birds. What will happen to the fish and birds which are presently feeding on mosquitos? What else might they eat, and with what consequence? If they don't find enough to eat and die out or are greatly reduced, what is the consequence of that?

Someone ought to at least think about these things before we march off and eliminate a worldwide species.

I dislike snakes so much that I would like to see them eliminated, but I am told that they are crucial in rodent (and therefore disease) control. That does not seem to be an overwhelming problem in ireland, Hawaii and New Zealand, the temperate paradises that have no snakes. But who knows? Certainly not me.; 1/30/16, 3:13 PM
Fernandinande said...: Won't someone think of the larvae?; 1/30/16, 3:59 PM
YoungHegelian said...: Man, those last few female mosquitoes are gonna be livin' large in a Taj Mahal built for them by the male mosquitoes. They gonna be sipping plant nectar & cow's blood from crystal goblets on trays of silver.

'Cause, ya know, a guy mosquito's gotta do what a guy mosquito's gotta do to get hisself some mighty-fine & rare mosquito boo-tay. Word up.; 1/30/16, 5:25 PM
Levi Starks said...: Couldn't we just give them a good dose of hazing?; 1/30/16, 5:57 PM
Curious George said...: Yes, lets kill off a major food source to the bottom of the food chain.; 1/30/16, 6:23 PM
mikee said...: Who will speak up for the bats, frogs and birds who feed on mosquitoes? Will they require welfare provision of some other insect or will they starve to death?

Nah, just kidding. I say DDT the blood suckers out of existence.; 1/30/16, 6:46 PM
JAORE said...: Hey the author looked into it and found no problem... so it is all good.

Hubris.; 1/31/16, 11:59 AM