A Quote

I thought I'd start out by quoting a book I'm reading. I can't give a recommendation on it since I've only read 10 of the 650 pages, but here's the quote anyway:

"And should you be one of those conventional persons who thinks of parasites as abnormal or perhaps goes so far as to drat the varmints, you may be surprised to discover, as I did, that parasites live both inside and outside most organisms in all the kingdoms, which makes parasitism thoroughly normal along with its derivatives: hyperparasitism (the phenomenon of parasites whose hosts are parasites in turn), hyperhyperparasitism, hyper³… and on up to hyperⁿ. And not only is the sun a parasite of the Milky Way as the earth is a parasite of the sun and terrestrial life parasitic on the earth, but you are a parasite of civilization (of which this book is a small token in evidence); and your dog, cat, canary, mice or others parasitic on you have each their own domestic fleas or lice or mites, etc., all of which (like you) must harbor itinerant bacteria which in turn carry viruses as passengers and, more than likely, stowaways still undiscovered... for it is not yet certain how many links such parasitic chains may have. Furthermore parasitism is part of the larger and even more complex subject of ecology or the interrelationship between all creatures and their total environments, which includes slavery, domestication, free sharing and a wide spectrum of bartering partnerships under the general heading of symbiosis. Parasitism may thus be a step toward brotherhood and even love, often becoming about as good in the long run for the host as for the parasite, both of whom tend to become dependent on each other under their unwritten but well-understood contract, as surely as you rely on your intestinal bacteria for digestion and vitamins or on your cat to suppress you mice."

I guess the idea is pretty obvious, but I like the poetic way he captures it.