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Burgess Shale: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|''“Punctuated equilibrium” is a theory of [[Evolution by natural selection|evolutionary biology]] proposing that once a species appears, its population will become stable and will show little evolutionary change for most of its history. The theory restricts significant evolutionary change to rare and geologically rapid events whereby one species splits into two distinct species, rather than one gradually transforming into another. It stands in contrast to the idea that evolution occurs gradually and uniformly, transforming whole lineages in a smooth, continuous fashion.'' | {{quote|''“Punctuated equilibrium” is a theory of [[Evolution by natural selection|evolutionary biology]] proposing that once a species appears, its population will become stable and will show little evolutionary change for most of its history. The theory restricts significant evolutionary change to rare and geologically rapid events whereby one species splits into two distinct species, rather than one gradually transforming into another. It stands in contrast to the idea that evolution occurs gradually and uniformly, transforming whole lineages in a smooth, continuous fashion.'' | ||
:—Wikipedia (adapted)}} | :—Wikipedia (adapted)}} | ||
If the financial services industry is a grand experiment in the social evolution, then one of its infrequent shocks — [[LTCM]], ''l’affaire [[Enron]]'', the [[global financial crisis]], the [[LIBOR]] scandal — are surely inflection points: quick, mass extinctions, punctuations to the normal equilibrium state through which the genetic adaptations of commerce make their stately way. We should watch them | If the financial services industry is a grand experiment in the social evolution, then one of its infrequent shocks — [[LTCM]], ''l’affaire [[Enron]]'', the [[global financial crisis]], the [[LIBOR]] scandal — are surely inflection points: quick, mass extinctions, punctuations to the normal equilibrium state through which the genetic adaptations of commerce make their stately way. We should watch them carefully, for we may see organisms, as they sink into the mud, going extinct in real time. These events are our Burgess Shales. They are a precious treasure-trove: the laying down before us of a fossil record, not of what went ''before'', but what comes ''afterward'', is illuminating. | ||
We have | We have one before us in the shape of [[Archegos]]. We’ve written about it elsewhere, but there is one other aspect to consider: what the {{CS report}} is doing to the fragile psychologies in the executive suites of ''other'' institutions. | ||
These executives will have read the report with a view to constructing their own unique, imaginative conclusions, from which they will draw lessons carefully wrangled so as to fling responsibility as far as such a thing can be flung from such an elevated position. Things thrown from the top of a hill tend to land further down it. Thus, as [[Sidney Dekker]] reminds us, in any industry beset by calamity, “operator error” is usually the first identified cause.<ref>{{fieldguide}}</ref> | These executives will have read the report with a view to constructing their own unique, imaginative conclusions, from which they will draw lessons carefully wrangled so as to fling responsibility as far as such a thing can be flung from such an elevated position. Things thrown from the top of a hill tend to land further down it. Thus, as [[Sidney Dekker]] reminds us, in any industry beset by calamity, “operator error” is usually the first identified cause.<ref>{{fieldguide}}</ref> | ||