LAST spring, tree-felling in an isolated region of western Canada's dense woodlands came to a halt for an unusual reason: further felling risked wiping out a rare variety of mushroom which only grows in that area.
This is just one example of the current commitment to the preservation of biodiversitypartly for its own sake, but also because saving other species from extinction might hold the key to our own survival. In his recent book
But while most people agree that the diversity of life forms is a good thingwith the exception, perhaps, of deadly virusesother sorts of multiplicity are much less popular.
Take, for example, followers of political or scientific doctrines. They tend to be convinced that they have found Truth ...