Michael Sauers
December 29, 2025
Our arrogance is only surpassed by our stupidity. So, to begin, let me recommend a few references for help. The first is The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity by Carlo M. Cipolla. Follow this with a skim through Aardvarks to Zebras by Melissa S. Tulin, Bugs, Bloodsuckers and Bacteria by Peter Brooksmith and finally Microlife, Smithsonian. All are fun and fascinating. Your children and grandchildren will love these as did the second graders I taught.
We are told over and over how marvelously advanced and complex we are even as we view the chaos we have created. Look around. I’ll skip the details. The truth is that sapiens have clawed their way to the top of the visibly perceived life chain. Again, skipping the details, this has been done at a huge cost to almost every other life form on the planet. Nevertheless, for good or bad and for the immediate future we are at the helm.
Whoa! Whoa! Don’t make this leap of fiction too fast. While the above is true, it is also true that we are all very temporary. Out of sight and out mind is a microscopic world that defies numerical labeling. Some of it is good and some of it is bad but, make no mistake, it is indestructible and driving the bus. From microscopic creatures to all life forms including humans we are ecosystems. We are more or less similar to a functioning compost pile.
Not long ago, if someone talked about an invisible world surrounding and engulfing us they would have been dragged to the town square and burnt. Witches! Witches! Here we are today learning more and more about this invisible world which, quite frankly, threatens to make us extinct.
Hold on, hold on. There is hope. Much of this unseen drama is symbiotic. It is humbling to imagine having to make a “Faustian” deal with this micro-world of viruses, bacteria, fungi, archaea, diatoms, parasites, proteins, etc., etc. The truth is that we already have. All is evolving. The key is balance.
Can we corral our arrogance and learn to live in balance and harmony with nature? To me, that seems to be the test.
As always, do some research.