The ongoing research on the Human Microbiome has lead artists, philosophers, social scientists and historians to rethink our being-in-the-world, our ontological hierarchies and values and our conceptual
entities. In the 3rd platform meeting our group discussed recent work that deal with the epistemological and ontological shift related to an engagement with the microcosm.
What is the relation between collective behavior and self-interest and, related to this question, how may we redefine the organism-environment relationship? What can happen when species meet on a petri dish or in an imaginary environment through wondrous artefacts? Our search for empathic, sensory, careful and ethical encounters with the microcosm may very well contribute to figuring future meetings with microbes that respect experiences of difference, strangeness and otherness as a crucial moment in coming to know ourselves.