On Thu, 23 Mar 2000 02:09:34 -0500 gordon <[log in to unmask]> writes:
> Lois,
>
> Your persistent belief that you are not in actual reality more
> advanced than a simple bacterium is admittedly
> very strong evidence in your favor.
>
> -gts
>
Ardeith writes:
Gordon, I don't know if you'r being sarcastic, snide, or
just snotty................but...........

As far as the planet is concerned......no lifeform is more
"advanced" or more valuable than any other.   All life
came from the same place.....at different times.....over
time.    The lifeforms we see around us today are.....
biologically......as advanced as we are......from a
strictly biological point of view.     We could not be
who, what, or where we are today without the action
of the bacteria of this mud ball we call Earth.   It
doesn't hurt to acknowledge this............

Proclaiming that we humans with our "great" technological
inventions are *naturally* the supreme lifeforms on this
planet is hubris.....if not pure bull excrement.    I think it
was Lynn Margulis who has written extensive on the
importance of microscopic life......and who, along with
James Lovelock, has written on the Gaia Hypothesis
.....the idea that all life on this planet ACTS like one
organism and regulates the planet to sustain that
life.

Please note......the Gaia Hypothesis does not say
that living conditions are regulated by the lifeforms
on this planet in order to make it nice and cozy for
HUMANS...............as far as biological life is
concerned, humans might well be just convenient
transport systems for viruses.....virui...how do
you spell the plural of virus?     Anyway, if we
persist in multiplying to the point of becoming
an infestation we may damage this whole system
to the point that it will no longer support life
as we know it.........Life will go on.....just not our
favorite forms of life....bacteria, viruses, molds,
and insects will probably be the inheritors of
Earth.

When we have engineered all the wheat on
the planet to the point that it is all the same
strain of wheat....or rice, or barley, or tomatoes....
we will pay the price for our destruction of
diversity............the same can be said for
animals also..............................................

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