As long as we're talking opinion and point of view, not submitting results to peer-reviewed journals, I think that what goes on in soil near-literal magic!
Almost no matter what we do, short of biocidal toxins, any time soil can get some air, some water and some organics, really complex soil populations arise and cooperate to produce FERTILE soil. And if there was only rock to start with, lichens work until there is soil.
How does that happen? Fertile soil is ALWAYS the result unless you try hard to rape all the life out of it? There must have been some really heavy-duty co-evolution going on for millions or billions of years ... and/or magic, and/or divine intervention, and/or some Gaea principle, Nature spirit or consciousness (and/or I-don't-know-what-but-I-sure-am-in-awe-of-the-result).
I would say that the jury is still out on questions like that, because how do you prove or disprove either side? I'm glad the Pope can't dictate what to believe any more, and I hope that we retreat from the current position where any blow-hard who invokes "Science" without listing any references can dictate belief, arouse fears, or dismiss concerns.
