Beware of dogs. The dog, a human’s best friend after brewer’s yeast, tends to think with its nose and its tongue. If it finds a tasty morsel of unknown origin it will first smell it then lick it. Such contact may lead to dangerous consequences. Dogs, however, are unaware of all this. Humans on the other hand have since time immemorial used their hands to interact with the environment. To begin with they built tools to reshape the environment and these tools reshaped the toolmakers themselves.

In a way the toolmakers were genetically modified, by the tools they created. But humans still think with their hands. If they come across a substance of unknown or suspicious origin they will first pick it up, peer at it, examine it cautiously and then check it out thoroughly before using it. A dog could lick poisoned meat and die. Humans would put it through a series of tests first, come to the conclusion that it is poisoned and reject it. There is a certain difference between the degree and level of intelligence that dogs and humans possess.

The caution that humans exercise while dealing with the unknown is reflected in the Precautionary Principle, included in the inter