Iatrogenics

Biological Parallel

Well-intentioned fire suppression in forests creates catastrophic megafires—the intervention causes worse outcomes than the original problem. Feeding wild deer populations leads to overpopulation, disease, and ecosystem collapse because removing natural predation creates trophic cascades. Antibiotics eliminate pathogens but also gut microbiomes, triggering downstream health problems. Biology reveals that complex adaptive systems often have fragile interdependencies where targeted interventions create unforeseen harm. Sometimes the best treatment is strategic non-intervention.