The Way the World Actually Is

[Chorus]
The way the world actually is
Is an enormously complex interrelated organism
The way the world actually is
Is an enormously complex interrelated organism

The same problem arises in medicine, because the body is a very complexly interrelated organism
And if you look at the body in a superficial way, you may see there's something wrong with it
Here's chicken pox, and the spots that itch
You might say, "Well, spots are there, cut 'em off."
So you kill thе bug
Well, then you find you've got rеal problems, because you have to introduce some bugs to kill the bug
It's like bringing rabbits into Australia
And that starts going all over the place and getting out of hand
Then you think, "Now, wait a minute. It wasn't the bugs in the blood, there are bugs all over the place. What was wrong with this person that his blood system suddenly became vulnerable to those particular bugs?"
His resistance wasn’t up
Therefore, what you should have given was not an antibiotic, but vitamins
Okay, so we're gonna build up his resistance, but resistance for what?
You may build up resistance to this and this and this class of bugs, but then there's another one that loves that situation, it comes right in

[Chorus]
The way the world actually is
Is an enormously complex interrelated organism
The way the world actually is
Is an enormously complex interrelated organism

See, we always look at the human being medically, in bits and pieces
Because we have heart specialists, lung specialists, bone specialists, nerve specialists, and so on
And so on
They each see the human being from their point of view
There are a few generalists, but they realize the human body's so complicated that no one mind can understand it
And furthermore, supposing we do succeed in healing all these people of their diseases
What do we then do about the population problem?
I mean, we've stopped cholera, the black bubonic plague, we're getting the better of tuberculosis, we may fix cancer and heart disease
Then what will people die of?
Well, they'll just go on living, with the enormous quantities of us
Then we have to fix this birth thing
Pills for everyone
Then we find what are the effects, the side effects, of those pills?
What are the psychological effects upon men and women of not breeding children in the usual way?
We don't know
We don't know
We don't know
We don't know
We don't know
We don't know

[Chorus]
The way the world actually is
Is an enormously complex interrelated organism
The way the world actually is
Is an enormously complex interrelated organism

[Outro]
Wise men say
Only fools rush in
But I can't help falling in love with you