#unintended-consequences

#unintended-consequences

The colonial Indian government decided the cobra population should be reduced, and decided the solution was to pay a generous bounty for every cobra carcass it received. What the government hadn't anticipated was that some enterprising individuals would start breeding cobras, because cobras were now lucrative. This was bad, but what happened next was worse - the government cancelled the program, and everyone who'd been breeding cobras suddenly had no incentive to keep the snakes, so all the captive cobras were released into the wild.

Each minute, millions of teens scroll through videos on social media platforms. These platforms are designed to connect people, but their overuse among young users is leading to serious, unintended consequences. The impact of social media on teen mental health has received significant media attention. After Facebook became available to American college students, their rates of depression rose by 7% and anxiety by 20%.