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The Difficulties of Elimitigation

It’s said that to successfully eliminate something you must replace it with something new. We see this in the history of systems where people eliminated and replaced part of it long ago. They survived and so are examples of the cycle being applied well. But why is this method applied poorly? Where does it break down? Since there is uncertain ability and low desire to understand changes that might come after eliminating something, whether there is a replacement or not, how should we mitigate the risks that might emerge?

Between eliminating and replacing something there is another way, which I’ll call “elimitigation,” with “elimitigate” being a portmanteau of “eliminate” and “mitigate.” Continue reading “The Difficulties of Elimitigation”

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Food Follows Function (Why we eat what we eat)

I’ve kept these early posts focused on issues that many people can relate to, rather than going into systems theory, complexity, chaos and more. Second-order effects touch the common things we consume, not just the esoteric. 

Second-order effects are everywhere — even in the choice of what we eat. But who chooses the choices? Some varieties of crops cannot easily be shipped far or produced for large markets. Other varieties are at risk of shocks and therefore put their focused producers and consumers at risk. 

Continue reading “Food Follows Function (Why we eat what we eat)”