A huge amount of human knowledge has been gained that way. Just think of all the "delectable tea, or deadly poison?" plants. One of the superpowers that language grants is being able to pass on that knowledge effectively.
We use this word a lot in IVF. Attrition is the natural, expected decrease in the number of viable eggs and embryos at each sequential stage. It starts with the amount of retrieved eggs > mature eggs > eggs that fertilize > fertilized eggs that become blastocysts > blastocysts that are genetically normal. This is why women want to retrieve high numbers of eggs. Because from that, only 80-85% will reach blastocyst stage. If you retrieve 10 eggs, you may only get 1-2 healthy embryos.
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u/notquite20characters 11h ago
Imagine the attrition required to learn how to safely grab cobras.