A Species Apart Chapter 1 The Infinite and the Infinite Human beings have always known that they hold a special place in the universe. Center of the world, jewel of evolution, he raised his eyes to Heaven. And then he began to explore... Man discovered that he lived on a planet among others in the solar system, a small blue dot rotating around its star... A planet of an ordinary size, orbiting around a rather pale star, which humans themselves classified as a yellow dwarf. A ridiculous size compared to the very numerous giants and supergiants... Take the grandiose Eta Carinais for example, a star a million times brighter than the Sun... Or the majestic Uy Scuti, 5 billion times larger... The universe is teeming with stars more notable than the Sun, an anonymous spark at the foot of the stellar hierarchies... To measure the immense distances between these stars, Man had to invent a special unit of length, that traveled in one year by a particle of light. 10,000 billion kilometers. A light year is therefore to a kilometer, what a kilometer is to the size of... a virus. And the universe is 80 billion light years across... There are an incredible number of stars. A single galaxy contains between 100 and 400 billion stars... And the galaxies themselves are countless. What we see now are not stars, but thousands of galaxies. For the entire visible universe, this represents a total of 400 sextillion stars. A number so large that human beings struggle to comprehend it. Yet it is not so difficult: there are as many stars in the observable universe as there are drops of water in all the oceans of planet Earth, or grains of sand on all its beaches and deserts. But this immensity itself represents only the observable universe, that zone beyond which human telescopes cannot see... a very small part of the real universe. Man lives in the distant suburbs of an innocuous galaxy, lost in a universe so vast that he cannot even conceive of it as a whole. Compared to these astronomical scales, wouldn't it be... insignificant? Chapter 2 Unique Life Humans inhabit a planet in their image: special, unique, perfect. The only planet that shelters living beings, Earth, is an oasis of life in the middle of the great cosmic desert... But is it really so exceptional? Man actually has only a very vague vision of the universe in which he evolves. On his scale, this domain is so vast and empty that he called it, for lack of a better term, "space." Far from being deserted, this space is teeming with a multitude of planets, as diverse as they are varied. Since there is on average one planet per star in the universe, there are probably more than 100 billion planets in the Milky Way alone, and as many in each of the hundreds of billions of other galaxies. With such a profusion of planets, how could life have evolved only once? Even with ridiculously low probabilities of occurrence, the universe is probably teeming with life. Especially since this universe is continually transforming. Every day, 275 million stars, and therefore planets, are born. So many are reaching the end of their lives, and all are in constant motion. Man cannot even identify his own position, which is not fixed. Starting with the orbit of the Earth, hurtling around its Sun at a speed of 100,000 km/h, and of which humans are not even aware. Nor does he perceive that his entire solar system is propelling itself through his galaxy even more rapidly. And finally, his galaxy, like all others, is itself in motion. It is rushing towards the nearest galaxy, Andromeda, at a speed of 720,000 km/h... Man, so superior, seems truly lost in a cosmic ocean in perpetual movement... In this immense universe, is it not like dipping a glass into the ocean and concluding that it is home to no fish? Ultimately, humans have no idea where they fit into the universe. Are they alone... Or just... insignificant? Chapter 3 One Second on Earth Earth is the cradle of humanity. Man reigns supreme there, with nothing seeming to be able to stop him. However, the planet Earth did not wait for Man to begin its history... Since life appeared there, the Earth has hosted countless species, which have succeeded one another, for varying lengths of time. But 99.9% of the species that have lived on Earth are now extinct. Some gradually evolved into other species. Others died suddenly. On average, their time on Earth lasts only a few million years. If the history of the Earth were written in a thousand-page book... Life would appear around page 185. This life would be represented only by simple cells for more than 700 pages... Until the explosion of multicellular species, on pages 870 to 880. The emergence from the waters would not be recounted until page 916. During this constant transformation, the planet has also undergone five major crises, including one, 250 million years ago, during which life on Earth almost disappeared. This mass extinction resulted in the disappearance of 70% of terrestrial species and 96% of marine species. It took the planet nearly 10 million years to recover and resume the inexorable dance of evolution, with its disappearances and its new arrivals, like that time the dinosaurs... on page 960 of the history of the Earth. At the end of the book, the entire history of Homo sapiens from its appearance to the present day would be covered in just a handful of lines, at the very bottom of the very last page. Its presence on Earth therefore represents only 0.004% of its very long History. Man has not existed for very long, but he is no more evolved. All species are at the pinnacle of evolution, and all are perfectly adapted to their natural environment, from the Barnacle, firmly anchored on its Whale... To the tiny Dik-Dik, so fragile in appearance but which has survived repeated attacks from eagles, pythons and lions since time immemorial... Nothing indicates that the human species should be eternal. Nor will it even take longer than the others to disappear... The most likely outcome is that its passage on Earth represents only the blink of an eye in the history of its planet. A paltry duration. Almost... insignificant? Chapter 4 The Leaf that Hides the Forest Man is an exceptional, unique species, at the pinnacle of evolution. But does he even have an idea of what his place represents in the whole tree of life? Man has classified himself among the mammals. A mammal like the Gorilla, the Elephant, the Shrew. Or even the bat and the killer whale... There are more than 5,000 species of mammals, and 10 times more species of vertebrates, which also include birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish. Humans then represent only one species of vertebrate out of nearly 70,000. A single leaf in a very large tree... But vertebrates are not the most numerous on Earth, far from it. Humans have already identified 5 times more plants and 20 times more invertebrates. In the beetle family alone, there are more than 300,000 known species! It is estimated that there are between 7 and 100 million different species on Earth! But living species are not only animals, plants and fungi! If we also consider bacteria, viruses and all other single-celled organisms, their species equivalent could then reach 1000 billion. A multiplication by thousands of the number of trees of life. If we took any species at random on Earth, the chances of finding a human being would be very small. Since its unicellular origins, life has diversified into an incredible number of branches, genera and species, the incredible diversity of which humans are only just beginning to grasp and which they will probably never be able to fully catalogue. And in this immense forest there is a leaf, which thinks it is central, while in all objectivity it is at the very least... insignificant. Chapter 5 Dominations Even if it is only a species lost in the midst of the multitude of living things, humans are without a doubt the dominant species on the surface of their planet. But by what criteria is this superiority manifested? Despite more than 7 billion humans on Earth, humans are not the most abundant species, far from it... Humans, for example, are three times less numerous... Than chickens! Even when we take into account the cumulative mass of all its individuals, the biomass, humanity weighs no more... than ants. Humans are not the tallest... ...nor the strongest... ...nor the longest-lived. While some sharks and turtles easily live for more than 200 years... ...corals and sponges live for several thousand years... Some species of jellyfish are even capable of rejuvenating themselves to continually restart the cycle of life. Without accidents or predators, they could be immortal... And compared to other species, humans are disconcertingly fragile. Starfish, for example, can regrow their entire body from one arm... The spiky Moloch can go for years without drinking anything other than the rare drops it collects on its skin... As for the Tardigrade, this charming little creature makes humans look like small creatures... It resists without problem and for years intensely toxic and excessively salty environments, temperatures of more than 150°C or minus 270°C, the total removal of food, water and oxygen, pressures more than 1000 times ours, X-rays and even the vacuum of space... Humans can only tolerate a small range of temperatures. Their skin is very thin, their organs are fragile and their physiology is puny. One might even wonder how this species has survived so far... Given its extreme fragility, doesn't the supposed domination of human beings seem... insignificant? Chapter 6 The Weak Species Faster, higher, stronger, the motto of the Olympic Games reminds us that human beings are born competitors, there to surpass themselves, and surpass others... Except that in reality, they don't surpass many people! It's not just the cheetah that easily beats the greatest sprint champions: the warthog, the camel, and even a simple fly effortlessly outdistance them... In the high jump then? The puma breaks all high jump records, reaching over 6 meters in the air, without a run-up, and without a pole... Weightlifting? The rhinoceros beetle can carry 850 times its own weight: the equivalent of a human lifting 65 tons... Without training... Elephant seals, mammals like humans, can dive ten times deeper than the greatest free-diving champions, to more than 2,000 meters , and stay underwater for two hours without breathing... For combat sports, it wouldn't be better. The most combative humans would n't last a round against a gorilla, a bear, or a kangaroo. Not to mention the many much smaller animals that can win the fight without even having to fight. Compared to other animals, humans have poor senses. They can't see far... ...not at night ...they are blind to ultraviolet and infrared rays... and insensitive to ultrasound... They don't detect electric fields, nor the Earth's magnetic field. Ultimately, if we compare our physical abilities to those of other inhabitants of our planet, there are not many categories in which humans could hope for a podium at the Olympic Games of the living. Compared to other species, human performance appears terribly... insignificant. Chapter 7 Intelligences Man may not be the biggest or the strongest on Earth, but he is the only one to have developed intelligence. An exceptional brain that allows him to anticipate, understand, and invent. A brain that gives him an indisputable superiority. But what really defines intelligence? Is it the ability to solve complex problems? At this game, crows do quite well... Using tools then? It's not just monkeys and birds that use it: octopuses, which, in addition to their main brain, have an independent brain in each arm, are capable of unsuspected feats... Language? This is a very human specificity. Actually, no: most animals communicate in complex ways. Bees can explain exactly where to find what type of flower... by dancing! Great Apes understand sign language and can even transmit it to others. They also have mental calculation skills comparable to young children. Even plants communicate with each other: acacia trees can chemically warn their neighbors when they are being eaten. A warning that allows them to secrete toxins in their leaves in time. What remains for humans that is their own? Self-awareness? Long-term memory? Empathy? The game and the humor? These criteria of intelligence have all been observed, repeatedly, in many species. From the most obvious... … to the most unexpected. Even human creativity must be put into perspective... Hundreds of thousands of years before humans even appeared, ants had already invented agriculture, livestock farming, social classes, assembly line work, and communication networks. If we look more closely, many of human inventions are in fact pale copies of the living world around us. Ultimately, when he can't even define the intelligence of the species around him, wouldn't the superiority of the human brain be... insignificant? Chapter 8 In the Web of Life As humans harness technology, they become more independent and free from the grip of nature. Yet, could humans survive without other species? The water he drinks, the air he breathes, are purified by all living species: biodiversity. This biodiversity also provides him with all of what he eats. But also many materials that make up its world... or the active ingredients of the majority of its medicines. Humans have industrialized agriculture, but without pollinators, their agricultural efforts would be in vain. It must be said that a bee can visit a mere quarter of a million flowers in one season. There are 50 trillion honeybees on Earth. Agriculture also benefits from soil invertebrates and microorganisms, which ensure its fertility. One gram of soil contains nearly a billion bacteria, divided into 10 to 100 thousand different species, the vast majority of which are still unknown to humans. If we were to put the DNA of all these bacteria together, it would take us to the ends of the universe. A biodiversity of infinite richness... Each species develops in permanent interaction with other species. Let one species disappear, and the remaining links will help compensate for that absence. If thousands of species were to disappear at the same time, the web of life would be greatly weakened, risking collapse. By its biological nature, humanity remains entirely dependent on the living fabric of its planet, for which its presence, like its disappearance, as a species are... insignificant. Chapter 9 To the depths of his being If Man is not distinguished by his domination, nor by his performances, nor by his intelligence, he nevertheless remains one indisputable certainty: that of his own identity, unalterable and uncompromised. But at the risk of offending him, Man represents rather a collection of species, coexisting in the most perfect of collaborations. Humans function thanks to tens of thousands of microscopic beings, on and in their bodies, without which they simply cannot live. Even when clean, the entire surface of its skin is covered with a carpet of microscopic animals, fungi and bacteria, which act as a protective shield against infections. And his body odor, so individual, so personal, is none other than that of his particular bacterial mixture, in otherwise odorless sweat. Deep down, the mix of intestinal bacteria is also unique to each person. But they don't just help with digestion... they also influence your health more generally; like a second brain, they also shape its behaviors, its moods and even its tastes and personality. The microorganisms in the digestive system are extremely numerous: one hundred thousand billion, or 10 times the number of cells in a human body. Even his own cells are not as purely human as he thinks. Over the course of evolution, bacteria were integrated, domesticated and naturalized, eventually remaining within the confines of human cells and becoming essential to their functioning. And even at the most intimate level, that of its own chromosomes, the integrity of this humanity is called into question. Since the dawn of time, humans have regularly incorporated hundreds of foreign genes into their genomes... In total, this involves more than 100,000 virus fragments, or 10% of the entire human genome! Ultimately, humanity in its very integrity is nothing other than the fruit of an immemorial inter-species collaboration. From then on, all of Man's claims to other species appear as inappropriate... as they are insignificant. Chapter 10 Heritage Humans are not the center of the world. Lost in the depths of the cosmos, he shares an unremarkable planet with millions of other species, all unique and fascinating, on which he depends entirely for his well-being and survival. Dust in this immensity, the human being does not seem so exceptional. And yet... By following his own path, humans have mastered the elements, repelled their predators, fought hunger and disease, to survive, then flourish, and finally conquer. He invented philosophy, art, science. He developed altruism, changed the scale of the scope and volume of his communication, his exchanges and his reflection. He imposed values, morals, ethics on himself. Gradually, he also invented religion, commerce, politics... but also discrimination, hatred and torture... He developed consumerism, the destruction of lands and seas, the exploitation of other species, along with his own. Man has achieved the feat of polluting the highest peaks in the world, and the deepest oceans, the interior of species, and the exterior of his planet. Every minute, it gives birth to 250 babies and produces 4,000 tons of waste. Every day it produces 240,000 cars and annihilates 400 living species. Every year, it kills nearly 9 million children under the age of 5 and destroys 13 million hectares of forest. Man seems to favor belief over knowledge, having over being, and the image of happiness over happiness itself. He thinks he is master of everything, but he does not control himself. It is the only species to have developed the ability to destroy its own environment, without having developed the wisdom not to do so. Humans, so precocious, are still immature, capable of the best as well as the worst. Will he reach the age of reason before burning down his own house? This question is anything but... insignificant.