(As a IT person I intuitively want the source code to feel safe. Maybe that is asking too much.)
We’re talking about making small hacks to a system that’s horribly complicated, undocumented, was written by Azatoth with goals in mind that don’t match ours anyway. Yeah, we may not understand much about the hacks we’re making, but we didn’t understand much about the original system either.
You know the expression »never touch a running system«. With the plants available there is long term data, and you know what you get. With big changes there are all kinds of risks involved that can not be foreseen. Including the possibility for side effects. Can you assure a small hack is really just small?
Nope, but the risk of unexpected side effects may be smaller than many ordinary risks we take with what we eat. I wouldn’t be surprised if some rare exotic plants like Rooibos had been studied less than GM rice or wheat.
I have an aversion towards “but we can never be sure” or “but there’s always a risk” arguments … Those can be used on nearly any topic and are useless until you try to figure out how much risk, which requires actual effort.
There are other cases where food rapidly got widely used without enough examination of the long term effects. Look up the introduction of industrial sugar. That seems to be a real problem.
We’re talking about making small hacks to a system that’s horribly complicated, undocumented, was written by Azatoth with goals in mind that don’t match ours anyway. Yeah, we may not understand much about the hacks we’re making, but we didn’t understand much about the original system either.
You know the expression »never touch a running system«. With the plants available there is long term data, and you know what you get. With big changes there are all kinds of risks involved that can not be foreseen. Including the possibility for side effects. Can you assure a small hack is really just small?
Nope, but the risk of unexpected side effects may be smaller than many ordinary risks we take with what we eat. I wouldn’t be surprised if some rare exotic plants like Rooibos had been studied less than GM rice or wheat.
I have an aversion towards “but we can never be sure” or “but there’s always a risk” arguments … Those can be used on nearly any topic and are useless until you try to figure out how much risk, which requires actual effort.
Yes of course. I do not like that line either.
There are other cases where food rapidly got widely used without enough examination of the long term effects. Look up the introduction of industrial sugar. That seems to be a real problem.