Many things that we take for granted aren't really that simple. For example, most of us think that whether something is living or not has a simple answer. But does it? Where do we put viruses, that have to commandeer the machinery of other organisms' living cells to reproduce? But surely we can tell the difference between what is an individual and what is a collection of individuals. But what about the slime molds, where the cells go their own merry way, separate from one another, until it's time to reproduce, when they form up ever so much like a single being?
You even have to wonder a bit about the social ants and bees. Is a nest
or hive a collection of individual organisms or are the sterile workers the equivalent
of the cells that make up an organism—mere extensions of a single organism, the queen?
Ah, life used to be so much simpler when we didn't know anything. But then again,
life is more interesting when it comes in shades of gray, not just black and
white.
Contributor: Arthur H. Harris, Laboratory for Environmental Biology, Centennial Museum, University of Texas at El Paso.
Desert Diary is a joint production of the Centennial Museum and KTEP National Public Radio at the University of Texas at El Paso.