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Comment by pazimzadeh | Hacker News Reader

In our lab we call it the lock and key hypothesis:

One size doesn't fit all: unraveling the diversity of factors and interactions that drive E. coli urovirulence https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28217693/

Bacterial virulence phenotypes of Escherichia coli and host susceptibility determine risk for urinary tract infections https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28330863/

It can be useful to look at infections from the perspective of microbes:

The acquired immune system: a vantage from beneath https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15539148/

TLDR: Microbes were here long before us and will be here after us. We are living in their world and the more we try to fight them head on, the more they will bother us. Best to adapt and co-opt.

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Microbes love on every square inch of the world, or close enough to it compared to humans.

Humans live like shower fungus at the local gym, we live in the cracks and near the water sources, on the scale of earth we might as well be microscopic.

> on the scale of earth we might as well be microscopic.

The total biomass on earth is about 6x10^9 t whereas the total mass of the earth is about 6x10^21 t so all life on earth is microscopic on the scale of the earth. Also, your choice of words implies you’re mixing up quantity with quality. The fact that we’re microscopic on any scale doesn’t mean we’re as worthless as shower fungus. We churn up mountains to get a microscopic amount of gold by comparison because the gold is worth more than an average mountain.

That's a calming thought.

All biomass on Earth is a one with 12 zeroes less than the mass of the Earth.

Your brain is about 3 regular bottles of water worth of mass.

Whatever inside that brain of yours that is stressing you out... is so far from being consequential to the universe that it's probably not worth stressing about in the first place. Just relax and enjoy the ride through this crazy universe.

> Your brain is about 3 regular bottles of water worth of mass... is so far from being consequential to the universe

And yet how much is one thinking and perceiving brain worth compared to 26 sextillion unthinking stars and 100X as many dead planets? I would say it’s priceless by comparison. The rarest gem worthy of a lot of “stress” to cherish and preserve, although personally I’m quite sanguine!

yet, some brains can change the world. i don't think that's a very inspiring way of thinking about the kind of impact we can make.

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