Our loyalties are to the species and the planet. We speak for Earth.

Every cell is a triumph of natural selection, and we’re made of trillions of cells. Within us, is a little universe.

Arguments from authority carry little weight – authorities have made mistakes in the past. They will do so again in the future. Perhaps a better way to say it is that in science there are no authorities; at most, there are experts.

These are all cases of proved or presumptive baloney. A deception arises, sometimes innocently but collaboratively, sometimes with cynical premeditation. Usually the victim is caught up in a powerful emotion -- wonder, fear, greed, grief. Credulous acceptance of baloney can cost you money; that's what P. T. Barnum meant when he said, 'There's a sucker born every minute.' But it can be much more dangerous than that, and when governments and societies lose the capacity for critical thinking, the results can be catastrophic -- however sympathetic we may be to those who have bought the baloney.

I believe that the extraordinary should be pursued. But extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

One of the greatest gifts adults can give - to their offspring and to their society - is to read to children.

And you are made of a hundred trillion cells. We are, each of us, a multitude.