MICROBES play the part of the unmentioned “elephants in the room”, and although we cannot see them with the naked eye, we should definitely keep them under observation.
Why? Not because a cup of seawater contains 100 million cells, preyed upon by billions of viruses; nor because a single pinch of soil is alive with hordes of cryptic microbes whose activities are a mystery; or because 50 million tons of fungal spores are released into the atmosphere every year, fascinating though these facts are. No, we should be watching out for the little fellows because they allow us much bigger fellows to flourish and exist. No microbes, no us, and that’s the important fact we should ponder.
Our minds are attuned to the large and the impressive, but we need to downsize our mental horizon if we are to learn how to live in harmony with our world.
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