Overwhelming exception

Biological Parallel

Tardigrades survive extreme radiation, vacuum, desiccation—'life is resilient!' But tardigrades are the exception that proves the rule. The overwhelming majority of life is exquisitely fragile: most organisms die from minor pH changes, temperature fluctuations, or water stress. Cherry-picking extremophiles while ignoring baseline vulnerability creates dangerous overconfidence in ecosystem resilience. Exceptions don't invalidate rules; they highlight the rarity of extraordinary adaptation.