We might be giants (or not).
Humans. We’re so big. Totally huge. What do we really know about all the little guys out there?
Pathogens? Bacteria?
.
Viruses? Toxoplasma?
.
Check out the fascinating article in The Economist, A game of cat and mouse, which explains the intriguing theory that pathogens may account for schizophrenia in humans – or, to put it more subtly, “There is tantalising evidence that a common parasite may affect human behaviour.”
I’m reminded of “crazy” theories put forward by Thomas Gold, who suggested that anaerobic bacteria deep in the earth’s mantle produce petroleum. See his Deep Hot Biosphere hypothesis.
Sure, if you’re really big (as we are), the really small seem …well, really small.
But by now we know it’s really a matter of scale, right?
😉
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