I never looked at it that way before.  You brought up several interesting points that were very thought provoking. Thank you.

I was talking to my neighbor several weeks ago on her front porch when I noticed some strikingly different Zinnias.  They were larger by far than normal zinnias, but also, some of them had another smaller zinnia blooming (a different color) straight up through the center, and going horizontally, as if they were conjoined twin zinnias.  I pointed it out to my neighbor and said that they were strikingly beautiful.  She told me they were "blah blah something something mutated zinnias" and that based as the result of a mutation it created the flowers to have the beautiful, yet different appearance.  Then she went on to say we like the mutated ones the best... then her voice dropped and she said "oh, sorry... I really didn’t mean anything by that, gosh I feel so stupid now".  I assured her that I took no offense and kind of laughed about it, and it really didn’ t bother me.

It’s interesting and thought provoking how something one person may consider a mutation or something horribly defective, can be perceived as a beautiful life saving mechanism which recessively strengthens mankind as a whole.   Somethin’ to think about...