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How can I support and encourage you to write more? Share the posts, link to them, and tell your friends to sign up for the newsletter. Also, I recently added a way to financially support.
If you would like me as a speaker, get in touch.
Where else has your writing appeared and what other publications have quoted you? A very partial list: TechCrunch, Exponential View, Marginal Revolution, the Human Risk podcast, the Changelog podcast, The Browser, and research from a couple law schools.
You can search the 100+ posts. And here are some of the more popular ones: Risk and Autonomous Vehicles, Asylum from a Pack of Wolves, Do We Create Shoplifters?, Anything at Scale, the Self Defeating Prophecy, Uyghurs in Xinjiang, the Cobra Effect, and Don’t Touch Anything. And of course, multiple posts on COVID-19.
Why the dandelion image? The dandelion represents unintended consequences. This is a flower that evolved before humans and relied on wind to disperse its seeds. But the dandelion seed head gave people an opportunity to play. Now its seeds are dispersed differently.
Why haven’t you written about [item in the news] yet? I normally don’t write about breaking events since we’re still learning what really happened. I aim for thoughtful writing, not reactive writing.
What are some examples of unintended consequences? I’ve written over 100 articles and the list of potential topics is endless. Try looking for topics in the search bar.
Why did you name your site “Unintended Consequences” rather than “second-order thinking,” “on complexity,” or something like that? Yes, using the term “second-order thinking” would be more precise. But colloquially, people immediately grok the meaning of “unintended consequences.”
Who are you? I’m Paul Orlando. I’ve worked in tech, teach, and have built and operated startup accelerators around the world. I’ve been writing Unintended Consequences since 2018. I also wrote a straightforward, useful book called Growth Units on unit economics, taking a systems view.