Remedies exist which, albeit effective, are so wacko as to be wacky. For example, an abraded knee could be treated by amputating a healthy leg. Extreme solutions to overcome nettlesome irritants often exacerbate the problem addressed.

The principle of counterproductive overreaction holds true not only with reference to the physical body, but also the body politic. When a drastic reaction is reciprocated with vengeance, the consequence stimulates intensified counteractions. Disaster can quickly intensify into catastrophe. This phenomenon can be analogized with the game of ping-pong. Players strike a ping-pong ball to and fro across a table divided by a divisive net with such force or subtlety as to contact the other side of the table, yet evade the opponent’s return paddle. Unlike the game

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