This is a lecture that provides information about why we are so easily scared about viruses and how we need to rethink our relationship with the world of viruses and bacteria if we want to maintain the modern ways of life. We think of human ecology as mostly having to do with ourselves, but we ourselves are embedded in a vast sea of microbes. Current events provide a stark and inescapable reminder that we cannot afford our interconnectivity with all aspects of the living world if we want to prosper as individuals and societies.