

Craig Venter's bugs might save the world - dr_
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/magazine/craig-venters-bugs-might-save-the-world.html?_r=1&hp

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npongratz
Single page version here:

[https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/magazine/craig-venters-
bu...](https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/magazine/craig-venters-bugs-might-
save-the-world.html?_r=2&hp&pagewanted=all)

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drharris
The writing here is atrocious. I bogged down in the 3rd paragraph and decided
not to continue.

Edit: Seriously, count the frequency of sentences that begin with "He", "But",
"And". Sometimes parallel structure is not the way to go.

~~~
leoh
I agree with you. I'm busy at the moment, by I think I'll come back later to
see if it gets better. The editor may have had Hylton write a catchy, but
inauthentic hook to draw readership.

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debacle
I read through half of a page, scrolled down and saw that I was going to have
to read through nine pages of this drivel, and gave up.

~~~
sitkack
The writing is so hard to read ...

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bkeating
Mr. Venter touches on this in a talk:
[http://longnow.org/seminars/02008/feb/25/joining-3-5-billion...](http://longnow.org/seminars/02008/feb/25/joining-3-5-billion-
years-of-microbial-invention/)

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joshcrews
I went into the article thinking that he had written some old software bugs
that are inadvertently making it difficult for some evil organization to
consolidate its plans and carry out its schemes.

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jstclair
I respect his accomplishments, but someone who gets thrills from life-
endangering pursuits is not the person I would want releasing artificial-
organisms into the wild to save the world.

~~~
jstanley
Upvoted for funny delivery, but I disagree with you. I, too, enjoy riding
motorcycles fast, but that doesn't mean I'm not capable of rational thought
when applied to my work.

~~~
jstclair
But isn't the past 5 years a pretty-clear demolition of the idea that bright,
well-trained people have a handle on systemic risk?

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jstanley
I don't think so. I also don't think that risk as applied to one's personal
life (e.g. riding a motorcycle for fun) has much bearing on risk as applied to
one's work.

Riding bikes is my main source of enjoyment in life (both racing and just
going for a ride on the road), and I accept that in order to obtain that
enjoyment I have to take a risk. That's OK. If I were building artificial
lifeforms, sure I'd get a kick out of it, but I would be a _lot_ more careful
than when I'm just riding a bike for fun.

~~~
jstclair
I just fund out that one of my co-workers raced in the Isle of Man TT last
year, so perhaps motorcycles spurred thoughts in me of bug-eyed insanity

