Can Bacteria Think?
1 Corinthians 1:25
"Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men."
It sounds silly to ask whether bacteria can think. However, science has known for more than 100 years that the little guys can indeed think. Experiments in 1883 conducted by Wilhelm Pfeffer showed that bacteria will swim toward good food like chicken soup and away from poisons such as mop disinfectant.
Pfeffer also learned that bacteria can make decisions. He made sure that his bacteria knew the location of chicken soup. Then he separated them from it with a mild mixture of disinfectant. He found that the little fellows would swim as fast as they could through the disinfectant to get to the soup.
This is the same type of decision-making process you and I go through every day. We often tolerate the unpleasant to arrive at the pleasant. As a result of this research, scientists today talk about bacteria actually making decisions.
These conclusions amaze most people. That's because we have been trained to think of intelligence in an evolutionary context. The "higher" or more evolved a creature is, the smarter we expect it to be. However, if we recognize, as the Bible says, that all life is the product of an intelligent Creator, we should not be surprised to find that intelligence has nothing to do with evolution. Every creature has been given as much intelligence as it needs by a Creator Who truly cares for every living creature – even bacteria!
Prayer: I thank You, Lord, that You give wisdom to the weak. Though the world exalts its own wisdom, help me to more clearly see how foolish my "wisdom" is and how wise Your "foolishness" is. Amen.
Author: Paul A. Bartz
Ref: Pietsch, Paul. 1983. "The mind of a microbe." Science Digest, Oct. p. 69.
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