Something stuck me today while reading this article on bacterial decision-making. We all need more receptors. Now, that statement doesn’t make a whole lot of sense without the context, so here’s the context:

“As bacteria’s ability to make decisions goes, E. coli is kind of dumb, which makes it easy for researchers to study sensing and information processing — essentially, decision making — in this bacterium,” says Alexandre.

E. coli has only five receptors that direct its decision-making process about movement, while Azospirillum brasilense has 48, making it comparatively much “smarter” in its ability to detect changes in its environments and as a result, to make complex decisions regarding where to move. (via www.ScienceDaily.com)

You see, the article was all about some pioneering research in the understanding of how bacteria make what would best be described as decisions. It’s all based on the input they receive from their receptors. The more receptors, the more information a given bacterium can use to make its decisions.

It’s the most basic form of stimulus-response behavior. But I think we humans can forget what an asset it can be, instead getting all hung up in our fancy-schmancy analysis and reasoning.

If you want to know more about the world, use your receptors. Learn something new that you didn’t know anything about previously. Listen to someone or read something you really don’t agree with. Put your hands in some dirt. Look under the hood of your car. Visit a museum. Take a trip.

Using your receptors will only make you want to use them more. And in a world where everyone’s a specifist and an expert, you’d be amazed how valuable a little bit of general knowledge and experience can be.

Cheers,

jae