Alolan_Apples
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Today is the last day of my fourth year on TBT (or third full year since I took a 10-month break). To celebrate this, I plan on having a Crazy Blog Saturday, where I write five blog entries planned to be published on one day. Normally, I do one or two in one day, but it’s five entries on interesting subjects. The first one is...
An unintended consequence is an unexpected event that is a result of a previous action, either something done out of ignorance, a solution, or any decision made. Most of the effects are below negative, and there’s a lot related to the environment. They come into three categories, which are Unexpected Benefits, Unexpected Drawbacks, and the Perverse Effect. I will go over some examples of each, three fictional ones, and two real ones.
Unexpected Benefits:
Unexpected benefits are the unintended, yet positive, results yielded from something done. Here are some examples:
Unexpected Drawbacks:
Unexpected drawbacks are the negative unintended consequences. Typically, they create problems you wouldn’t expect, including new problems coming from solutions. Here are some examples:
Like unexpected drawbacks, these consequences are negative. Not like unexpected drawbacks, they actually make the problem worse, in the same way they were expected to improve the problem. There are many different types of these, but I won’t go over them. Here are some examples:
Because of the law of Unintended Consequences, people try to come up with solutions to prevent further consequences. They look forward to the future and understand what the issue would cause. But no matter what action you make, everything has consequences.
Unintended Consequences
An unintended consequence is an unexpected event that is a result of a previous action, either something done out of ignorance, a solution, or any decision made. Most of the effects are below negative, and there’s a lot related to the environment. They come into three categories, which are Unexpected Benefits, Unexpected Drawbacks, and the Perverse Effect. I will go over some examples of each, three fictional ones, and two real ones.
Unexpected Benefits:
Unexpected benefits are the unintended, yet positive, results yielded from something done. Here are some examples:
- A restaurant owner add a new item to the menu for the sole purpose to expand the menu. The new item increased the restaurant’s publicity, and the restaurant became more famous because of this item.
- A site feature was removed due to abuse done by members. This decision was unpopular by trolls, which caused them to leave the site, making it safer and more comfortable.
- A vandal smashes a gift shop vase just to be mean. After the damage, a robber comes in to threaten the store for money, but he slips on the shards and falls on his back, forcing him to give up. If it weren’t for the vandal, the gift shop would be in more trouble.
- Real World Example: The loosening of gun laws and the legalization of guns would cause crime rates to fall.
- Real World Example: Aspirin was made to be a pain reliever, but a side effect to it is that it can prevent heart attacks and reduce the severity and damage done by strokes.
Unexpected Drawbacks:
Unexpected drawbacks are the negative unintended consequences. Typically, they create problems you wouldn’t expect, including new problems coming from solutions. Here are some examples:
- A restaurant owner fired a problematic waiter for their mistreatment of customers. While the decision improved customer service, friends of the waiter ended up quitting their jobs because of their close friendships, resulting in slower service.
- A newly-added security feature was made to scare robbers away from a house. It was also a nuisance to other visitors, and it resulted in the house being a forbidden territory.
- A video game update was made to add new features or change broken features. The update also created crashing bugs and game-breaking glitches that were exploited by members of the community.
- Real World Example: The recent expulsion of Sarah Huckabee Sanders from the Red Hen Restaurant had a negative impact on Lexington’s tourism, not just the restaurant’s.
- Real World Example: Rabbits were imported in Australia mainly so hunters can hunt rabbits there. The rabbits became a feral pest in Australia, as they caused major damage to the ecosystems. This is the most famous example.
Like unexpected drawbacks, these consequences are negative. Not like unexpected drawbacks, they actually make the problem worse, in the same way they were expected to improve the problem. There are many different types of these, but I won’t go over them. Here are some examples:
- A restaurant owner, worrying about profit losses, cuts back on expenses. This results in even more profit loss due to the decline in quality, which also impacted the popularity.
- A home owner, hoping to get more trick-or-treaters to her house on Halloween, adds more decorations to her house. The decorations added were too fancy or scary, and it resulted in fewer, not more, trick-or-treaters.
- A student falls victim of false rumors. He complains about it and handled it poorly, but it resulted in even more people spreading malicious rumors.
- Real World Example: Pouring water onto a grease fire would actually make the fire worse, not put it out.
- Real World Example: Back when Britain was in control of India, they would pay a reward for every cobra killed. This resulted in the decrease of wild cobras, but it also resulted in people breeding them so they could get the reward. When the government heard about this, they scrapped the reward, which caused the cobras to be set free, and thus, the wild cobra population went out of control.
Because of the law of Unintended Consequences, people try to come up with solutions to prevent further consequences. They look forward to the future and understand what the issue would cause. But no matter what action you make, everything has consequences.
