hubris as high mutational burden

Checkpoint inhibitors seem to work best against tumor types and cancers with lots of genetic mutations. Because it is unusual in the body, this heavy mutational load seems to be easier for the immune system to identify as not belonging to ‘self’. Lung cancers triggered by smoking are generally loaded with mutations, and smokers respond to the checkpoint-inhibition therapies better than those who have never smoked. One strategy is to use combination therapies — such as chemotherapy plus a checkpoint inhibitor — to trigger mutations that will make it easier for the immune system to recognize tumor cells.

The Quest to Extend the Reach of Checkpoint Inhibitors in Lung Cancer (Weintraub)

Stronger cancers are easier to defeat. (Who would have thought that smoking can increase the odds of survival?) Strategically speaking, this outrageously counter-intuitive conclusion is actually quiet generalizable.

Making your enemy stronger makes sense in many different contexts. Once the ego inflates and hubris kicks in, your enemy inevitably starts making mistakes, just like a highly mutated cancer cell giving itself away to the immune system. The trick is to reach this state as quickly as possible so that you still have enough energy to act with fury when your enemy makes the fatal mistake. (Remember that you do not need to win every battle to become the final victor.)

Complex systems exhibit phase transitions. Making your enemy stronger can tilt the equilibrium, helping you initiate a favorable phase transition. For instance, as a young adult growing up, you need to rebel against your parents and friendly parents make this maturation process harder. Similarly, as you dump plastic into it, nature needs to learn how to turn this waste into food and eco-friendly policies make the adaptation process harder. As you can not expect to grow up via trivial adversities, you can not expect nature to come up with plastic eating bacteria via occasional exposures.

PS: On a similar note, see the post Against Small Doses which argues in favor of (low frequency) high doses within the (positive) pleasure domain, whereas the current post is focused on (negative) pain domain.