Clifford Jepsen

In The Wizard and the Prophet, Lynn Margulis is indeed quoted as comparing humans to bacteria in a petri dish, warning that humanity could overrun the planet and exhaust its resources, leading to collapse. Charles C. Mann opens the book with a quote from Margulis, whom he admires as “one of the most important biologists in the last half century,” a

“Margulis would be the first to agree that removing the shackles from women and slaves has begun to unleash the suppressed talents of two-thirds of the human race. Drastically reducing violence has prevented the waste of countless lives and a staggering amount of resources. Is it really impossible to believe that we wouldn’t use those talents and