The Cobra Effect
Since school has been out, I've been catching up on all the little things I've put off during the year. One of those things, besides resting and going to the dentist, is listening to all the podcasts I've missed in the last few months. One of my favorites is the Freakonomics podcast. The subtitle is "The Hidden Side of Everything." So if you like thinking about off-beat things in a weird way, let me recommend it. The Stevens (Levitt and Dubner) do a lot of talking about unintended consequences, and last week I listened to one called "The Cobra Effect." Here's a quote:
After I listened to the podcast, I started thinking, in a very Freakonomics-type manner, that surely unintended consequences aren't always bad -- they're just unintended.
Then I saw a news clip on TV of a speech given last week at the United Nations. A young girl named Malala, now only 16, was shot by the Taliban for advocating equal education for girls. She wasn't the only victim, but she survived a gunshot to the head. There she was speaking for the whole world to hear about her ordeal and about her goals for greater human rights. You can watch it if you'd like.
Her entire speech moved me. I thought, "This girl has more strength and courage in her little body than most of the adults I know combined." Then there was this one part that really pierced my heart:
It seemed to me this was a perfect example of unintended consequences at work for good instead of evil. The men that hurt Malala intended to silence her and control her, but that isn't what happened at all. Instead their foul deeds are being brought into the light, and the message Malala was speaking got amplified times a million. It feels good to think about that doesn't it?
Don't forget though that the ultimate victory comes at a price. Malala was hurt and her friends were killed, but the Taliban didn't win. Her voice is stronger and more people are listening. In her speech, Malala mentioned a long list of people who have changed the world in the struggle for human rights. Among them she mentioned Martin Luther King, Jr and Mother Teresa. Both of whom suffered in their lives by making sacrifices for others, and those same sacrifices and trials served to boost the message each had about humanity and change.
I don't think that's an accident. In his essay, "The Grand Miracle," C.S. Lewis points out that ancient stories and examples from history keep showing us the central truth that death is essential for real life. It is the image of Christ "diving down to the bottom, into the depths of the universe and coming up again into the light." Lewis also says, "everyone will see at once how that is imitated and echoed by the principles of the natural world; the descent of the seed into the soil, and its rising again in the plants. There are also all sorts of things in our own spiritual life where a thing has to be killed, and broken, in order that it may then become bright, and strong, and splendid."
Malala never would have arrived at that podium in front of the UN without the path of struggle that led right to that place and time. Remember that, friend, the next time you find yourself beat up, battered, and a little bit broken. Maybe it isn't a sign that you're being punished or that you've done anything wrong. When people intend to hurt you, control you, or limit you, the consequences aren't always what they'd predict.
If you're a Christian like me, you might realize that finding yourself in that difficult place is part of God's work in you. That you might be in the process of looking more and more like Jesus, his son. It is part of the mystery of faith that God is, even now, reconciling the whole world to himself. Sometimes the most holy, beautiful, praiseworthy things are preceded by suffering.
As James said, "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." (1:2-4 NKJV) You can see the silver lining in painful situations if you keep in mind that God is always in the background working things out. Often the work he does is not what we can foresee or expect. As Romans 8:28 tells us, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose."
So what's the complement for the "Cobra Effect," when good intentions go bad? It's the "Jesus Effect," when bad intentions go good.
MEHROTRA: So the “cobra effect” refers to a scheme in colonial India where the British governor, or whoever, the person in charge in Delhi, wanted to rid Delhi of cobras. Apparently in his opinion there were too many cobras in Delhi. So he had the bounty placed on cobras. And he expected this would solve the problem. But the population in Delhi, at least some of it, responded by farming cobras. And all of a sudden the administration was getting too many cobra skins. And they decided the scheme wasn’t as smart as initially it appeared and they rescinded the scheme. But by then the cobra farmers had this little population of cobras to deal with. And what do you do if there’s no market? You just release them. And so this significantly, by a few orders of magnitude, worsened the cobra menace in Delhi.This particular incident has lent its name to any situation in which an incentive breeds unintended consequences. I experienced the "Cobra Effect" myself the first year I taught. I'll spare you the gory details. Let's just say my system of rewards for good behavior backfired horribly, and my students circled me like a pack of hungry hyenas or maybe it's more like they drained me like a bunch of starving leeches. In any case, I'm no stranger to the sting of the cobra's bite.
After I listened to the podcast, I started thinking, in a very Freakonomics-type manner, that surely unintended consequences aren't always bad -- they're just unintended.
Then I saw a news clip on TV of a speech given last week at the United Nations. A young girl named Malala, now only 16, was shot by the Taliban for advocating equal education for girls. She wasn't the only victim, but she survived a gunshot to the head. There she was speaking for the whole world to hear about her ordeal and about her goals for greater human rights. You can watch it if you'd like.
"On the 9th of October 2012, the Taliban shot me on the left side of my forehead. They shot my friends, too. They thought that the bullet would silence us, but they failed. And out of the silence came thousands of voices. The terrorists thought that they would change my aims and stop my ambitions, but nothing changed in my life -- except this: weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage was born."
It seemed to me this was a perfect example of unintended consequences at work for good instead of evil. The men that hurt Malala intended to silence her and control her, but that isn't what happened at all. Instead their foul deeds are being brought into the light, and the message Malala was speaking got amplified times a million. It feels good to think about that doesn't it?
Don't forget though that the ultimate victory comes at a price. Malala was hurt and her friends were killed, but the Taliban didn't win. Her voice is stronger and more people are listening. In her speech, Malala mentioned a long list of people who have changed the world in the struggle for human rights. Among them she mentioned Martin Luther King, Jr and Mother Teresa. Both of whom suffered in their lives by making sacrifices for others, and those same sacrifices and trials served to boost the message each had about humanity and change.
I don't think that's an accident. In his essay, "The Grand Miracle," C.S. Lewis points out that ancient stories and examples from history keep showing us the central truth that death is essential for real life. It is the image of Christ "diving down to the bottom, into the depths of the universe and coming up again into the light." Lewis also says, "everyone will see at once how that is imitated and echoed by the principles of the natural world; the descent of the seed into the soil, and its rising again in the plants. There are also all sorts of things in our own spiritual life where a thing has to be killed, and broken, in order that it may then become bright, and strong, and splendid."
Malala never would have arrived at that podium in front of the UN without the path of struggle that led right to that place and time. Remember that, friend, the next time you find yourself beat up, battered, and a little bit broken. Maybe it isn't a sign that you're being punished or that you've done anything wrong. When people intend to hurt you, control you, or limit you, the consequences aren't always what they'd predict.
If you're a Christian like me, you might realize that finding yourself in that difficult place is part of God's work in you. That you might be in the process of looking more and more like Jesus, his son. It is part of the mystery of faith that God is, even now, reconciling the whole world to himself. Sometimes the most holy, beautiful, praiseworthy things are preceded by suffering.
As James said, "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." (1:2-4 NKJV) You can see the silver lining in painful situations if you keep in mind that God is always in the background working things out. Often the work he does is not what we can foresee or expect. As Romans 8:28 tells us, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose."
So what's the complement for the "Cobra Effect," when good intentions go bad? It's the "Jesus Effect," when bad intentions go good.
This is what I think of when I think Evangelism. Good work!
ReplyDeleteThanks. I'm learning how God works in our lives, and I want to share that if I can. :-)
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