Sublime Microbes and Slime Moguls

By Mike L Anderson

If "two are better than one," then many brains will be better than none, right? It is going to seem bizarre and this is not going to go down well with the intellectually proud, but scientists are discovering that microbes without brains can make decisions that are wiser than those made by humans. If finding wisdom in extremely stupid creatures seems odd, bear in mind that locusts do not have much of a brain and yet the Bible mentions them as illustrations of extreme wisdom. Perhaps wisdom is quite different to intelligence as evolutionary psychologists are saying. Used wisely, intelligence is a great blessing from God, but used foolishly, as we will see, it is a terrible curse. These microbes are simple creatures without a brain and with big problems. Their environment is replete with risks. Yet they are able to thrive by assessing and responding appropriately and proportionately. How microbes cope strategically with threats is a wonder of nature. As we unfold how they do it, we will discover what they have that predisposes them to wisdom. We will also discover why it is that humans have a predisposition to poor judgement. We tend to over-react to lesser overt threats such as snakes and under-react to more insidious ones. Many would venture that a blatantly malevolent Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin or Mao Tse-tung were the most dangerous individuals of the 20th century. However, we will see that this distinction needs to go to another who is regarded as a hero but who has caused death and suffering on an even more massive scale. He was an extremely intelligent and educated man, but a foolishly reckless one. It is, however, superficial to make him the monstrous culprit behind all the devastation because he himself is the product of insidious forces. His all-consuming faith was not in Christ, but in very toxic ideas that started to gain ground centuries earlier. We will trace those ideas and why it is that they had such terrible consequences. What we need most crucially is wisdom. We can learn wisdom from microbes, but with our knowledge and intelligence comes the imperative for a special wisdom from the Master. Taking risks is serious even for earthly matters. How much more so for spiritual matters? We will see that knowing the Master himself is the surest path to deep wisdom and abundant and eternal life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mike L Anderson
• Release date: Nov 7, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370181650

Mike L Anderson

Mike L Anderson, PhD (Philosophy of Evolutionary Biology). Mike develops educational resources and software and plays Starcraft.

Book preview

Although capable of beautiful acts, we humans have many flaws that have negative ramifications throughout society. Arguably the chief among these is an egocentricity - we struggle to identify sufficiently closely with others who are different or live in circumstances different from ourselves. We appear to be incapable of changing our behaviour enough on our own and this poses a threat to our continued existence on earth. We have the technologies to destroy our own, other species and our environment without the moral capacity to foresee the long-term consequences. This extended essay points very convincingly to the need of the hour - a wisdom that is evident in humble, ancient and counter-intuitive sources, but most especially in the Wise Man himself.

Doug Rawlings (PhD, DSc), Emeritus Professor, Department of Microbiology University of Stellenbosch

Sublime Microbes and Slime Moguls

Mike L Anderson

Published by Smashwords

Copyright 2017 Mike L Anderson

Revised, 2023

ISBN 9781370181650

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Smashwords Edition, License Notes

Thank you for downloading this ebook. You are welcome to share it with your friends. This book may be reproduced, copied and distributed for non- commercial purposes, provided the book remains in its complete original form. This ebook is freeware and may not be sold.

Unless otherwise stated, quotations from the Bible are taken from Holy Bible: New International Version, Copyright © 1978 by the International Bible Society, New York.

To conserve trees, please try to avoid printing this document.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my wife Janice who is small in ego and big in wisdom and who humbly said, when I told her of this dedication, I wouldn't say that.

Acknowledgments

I am indebted to many people, but wish to especially thank Professor Doug Rawlins and Dr Allen Goddard for their comments and criticisms and my ever-faithful editor, Dr Andrew Potts.

Table of Contents

Microbes are a marvel

Microbes are humble co-operators

Not a brain between them

Microbes know the best way home

Microbes don't fall for diet fads

Microbes make optimal choices

Microbes know the real threats

Humans misjudge the size of threats

Knowledge and wisdom

Our affective system

Threats humans face

Salt seals their fate

The most insidiously violent person of the 20th century

Poisoning the public

Bamboozling the public

Essential experts excluded

The spiritually insidious

The folly of faith in self-sufficient reason

The folly of faith in progress

The folly of faith in civilization

Atrocities even worse than war

The very worst form of atrocity

The wisdom that come from below

The wisdom that comes from above

About Mike L Anderson

Other titles by Mike L Anderson

Notes

Microbes are a marvel

If two are better than one (Ecclesiastes 4:9), then many brains will be better than none, right? It is going to seem bizarre and this is not going to go down well with the intellectually proud, but scientists are discovering that microbes without brains can make decisions that are wiser than those made by humans. The particular microbes that we will consider are called slime moulds, but they are amoebae and emphatically not moulds at all. They are only distantly related to fungi, plants and animals. Their so-called slime is protoplasm with a consistency that is similar to our own and to custard. As an amorphous blob, its appearance may not appeal to us, but it makes up for this in having a quite pleasant fragrance, and I can personally vouch for this.

While, it might seem odd to find wisdom in a creature that has been around for at least 400 million years and is extremely stupid, bear in mind that locusts do not have much of a brain and yet the Bible points to them as illustrations of extreme wisdom (Proverbs 30:24-27). Perhaps wisdom is something quite different to intelligence as cognitive and evolutionary psychologists are saying. Used wisely, intelligence is a great blessing from God, but used foolishly, as we will see, it is a terrible curse.

These microbes are simple creatures without a brain and with big problems. Their environment is replete with risks. Yet they are able to thrive by assessing and responding appropriately and proportionately. How microbes cope strategically with threats is a wonder of nature. As we unfold how they do it, we will discover what they have that predisposes them to wisdom. We will also discover why it is that humans have a predisposition to poor judgement. We tend to over-react to lesser overt threats such as snakes and under-react to more insidious ones such as toxins. Many if not most would venture that a blatantly malevolent Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin or Mao Tse-tung were the most dangerous individuals of the 20th century. However, we will see that this distinction needs to go to another who is regarded as a hero but who has caused death and suffering on an even more massive scale. Any fragrance he has is artificial and masks a putrefied psyche. We will see that it is amongst the moguls that we find true slimyness.

He was an extremely intelligent and educated man, but a foolishly reckless one. It is, however, too superficial to make him the monstrous culprit behind all the devastation. This is because, as we will see, he himself is the product of insidious forces. His all-consuming faith was not in Christ, but in very toxic ideas that started to gain ground centuries earlier. We will trace those ideas and why it is that they had such terrible consequences. We will see that intelligence and knowledge in themselves will not ensure us a future but can very easily accelerate our demise.

If you come away from this book merely having learnt a lot, its objective would have failed. What we need most crucially is wisdom, and I hope this book does something towards that. We can learn some wisdom from microbes, but with our knowledge, intelligence, and technology comes the imperative for a special wisdom from above. Taking risks is serious even for earthly matters. How much more so for spiritual matters? We will see that deeply knowing God himself especially as he revealed Himself in his Son is the surest path to deep wisdom and abundant and eternal life.

Microbes are humble co-operators

There is unconscious conniving happening right under our feet all the time but we miss it because it is tiny creatures that are doing it. It has taken the exquisitely dedicated research of John Bonner and others to unravel what these creatures are up to.¹ When times are good, the solitary amoebae of the cellular group of slime moulds (see accompanying picture²) such as Dictyostelium discoidium, or Dictyo as they are affectionately called, avoid each other while foraging for soil bacteria. Every now and then the cells reproduce by splitting into two. A remarkable thing happens when the going gets tough. The tough might get going, but the wise snuggle up. It is almost as if King Solomon had been tutored by Dictyostelium about a time to embrace and a time to refrain (Ecclesiastes 3:5).

When the amoebae are stressed, they start seeking each other out and clumping together. The cells are on a mission - to move away from an area where food is scarce to where food is plentiful and for that they need to cooperate with each other. The problem is too big for them to solve individually. Small clumps form bigger clumps until a slug-like colony forms of one or two million