We know amoebae as the ‘lowest form of life’. Here are three amoeboid cells. Two examples (left and centre) are pond amoebae from a quiet pool. On the third kind (right) we depend for our survival! It is a human leucoctye, a white cell from the blood. These cells are responsible for our survival, for they identify disease germs and control them, usually before any damage is done. But are they, as the books all say, ultimately controlled by the brain? Far from it: these cells make their own judgements, take their own decisions, summon confederates to help in the task.

And they do it independently—not under the brain’s control.