Iatro Genesis

Iatrogenesis, or an iatrogenic artifact is an inadvertent adverse effect or complication resulting from medical treatment or advice, including that of psychologists, therapists, pharmacists, nurses, physicians and dentists. Iatrogenesis is not restricted to conventional medicine; it can also result from complementary and alternative medicine treatments.

Iatrogenesis demonstrates that for very complex systems (such as the humand body) it is sometimes better to leave things alone ( IfItAintBrokeDontFixIt ). If one wants to improve something, it is important to not only take in consideration the possible advantages from the "improvement" but also the dangerousness in case the improvement turns out to be wrong.

In other words, not only should you consider how likely can a fix fail, but what the impact would be if it fails (even if it seems "improbable")

The term iatrogenesis means brought forth by a healer (from the Greek iatros, healer); as such, in its earlier forms, it could refer to good or bad effects.

Since at least the time of Hippocrates, people have recognized the potential damaging effects of a healer's actions. The old mandate "first do no harm" (primum non nocere) is an important clause of medical ethics, and iatrogenic illness or death caused purposefully or by avoidable error or negligence on the healer's part became a punishable offense in many civilizations.

So, if you are going to change some code, remember: FirstDoNoHarm?

Examples

The vulnerability, which became public on Oct. 15, is a SQL injection flaw in a Drupal module that’s designed specifically to help prevent SQL injection attacks: http://threatpost.com/assume-every-drupal-7-site-was-compromised-unless-patched-by-oct-15/109095

AntiFragile, TheBlackSwanBook

CategoryEmergence