The intricate and different life cycles of both male and female root-heads, and the great behavioral sophistication shown by the female in reconfigur… - Stephen Jay Gould

Skepticism is the agent of reason against organized irrationalism — and is therefore one of the keys to human social and civic decency.

The history of a species, or any natural phenomenon that requires unbroken continuity in a world of trouble, works like a batting streak. All are games of a gambler playing with a limited stake against a house with infinite resources. The gambler must eventually go bust. His aim can only be to stick around as long as possible, to have some fun while he's at it, and, if he happens to be a moral agent as well, to worry about staying the course with honor.

If Ediacara survivors had been able to evolve internal complexity later on, then the pathways from this radically different starting point would have produced a world worthy of science fiction at its best.