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Omar Ahmed

10/18/17

English Language Arts 10

2nd Hour

The Neglected Miniatures

Whatever one may argue, we humans often neglect the minute things in life, things that

are key to our development and even the prevention of our demise. Deborah Gordon and Edward

Wilson are firm believers in minute organisms, and their abilities to inspire us humans to move

forward in terms of our intellectual developments and our flourishment. Deborah emphasized on

ants, and that we humans have a lot to learn from their many intelligent algorithms. Edward

spoke of how bacteria and insects go hand in hand with our own lives. I’m a strong advocate of

the points that both speakers put forth in their presentations. We humans really do have a lot to

learn from ants, as they have been using algorithms we’ve just recently invented for millions of

years already! Also, we must be thankful for all the bacteria and insects that help us remain alive.

Finally, we simply must appreciate the extraordinary capabilities of bacteria despite the fact that

they’re invisible to the naked eye. Miniature creatures, without any doubt whatsoever, are crucial

to our daily lives.

Seeking for algorithms and inspirational ideas pertaining to our intellectual development

from ants may seem extremely preposterous, but it simply isn’t. Ants have been around for 130

million years, and they must’ve developed many algorithms that we could benefit from. For

instance, several ant colonies have developed temporary security solutions to other ant colonies

invading their habitats. One ant would plug its head into the entrance of the whole colony’s
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home to prevent any foreign ants from entering their home. Deborah suggests we could

implement this in computer security, where we could temporarily block access in an immediate

threat, and reopen them as oppose to building permanent firewalls. Ants have also come up with

an ingenious way of searching for food when foraging, and that is through collective search. We

humans could learn from this and use this strategy when collecting information on planets for

instance. Instead of using one expensive rover to collect information on a planet, one could

invest in many cheaper robots to do the job, splitting the task up between every single one of

them.

Edward Wilson claims that, “if we were to wipe out insects alone… the rest of life and

humanity with it would mostly disappear from the land and within a few months." This fact

emphasizes the point that size doesn't matter, especially when our lives are at stake. We can’t

underestimate minute organisms because of their size, as they play an important role in our well-

being; in other words, they keep us alive! Insects are tiny, yet they are crucial to our lives.

Insects are crucial once it comes to pollination. Without pollination, approximately ninety

percent of the food we eat will vanish! Also, there are 500 types of friendly bacteria in our mouth

and throat! These bacteria help our mouths stay clean and healthy if you take great care of your

hygiene.

Finally, we simply must appreciate the capabilities of these minute creatures that

contribute to our well-being. The benefits we get from insects are of great abundance that we

usually take them for granted. Some insects are scavengers, and they help keep our Earth in a

great sanitary condition by cleaning up nature’s carcasses. Most of the food served on your

dinner table is available thanks to contributions form hardworking insects. Although bacteria are

much smaller than insects, they are just as equally breath-taking and important as insects. Early
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bacteria were capable of unfathomable extremes such as harsh temperatures and changes in

environment. Prochlorococcus are small bacteria that are responsible for a large amount of

photosynthesis that occurs in the ocean, according to Edward. One could just imagine how

lifeless the ocean bottom would be without any bacteria to convert sun energy to glucose for the

plants to nourish from.

The effects of minute creatures on humanity is marvelous. We humans are complex

creatures, but we couldn’t move an inch further in life without our mini sidekicks. Miniature

creatures such as bacteria and insects contribute to our well-being, and we could refer to them

when looking for algorithms that would evolve the way we approach different problems. We

simply must appreciate all that these insects and bacteria are capable of. Whenever there’s a

problem, the miniatures are our solution!