Eli5-If a virus isn’t technically alive, I would assume it doesn’t have instinct. Where does it get its instructions/drive to know to infect host cells and multiply?
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This is one of the coolest things about “life”. And why maybe a virus is alive, and maybe it isn’t. A virus copies itself – that’s all it does. It doesn’t move around except by being swept around by outside forces. It doesn’t eat. It doesn’t breath or absorb nutrients. It is simply a set of instructions that, once inserted into a living cell, says “make more of this”. And that’s exactly what the cell does. Honestly it isn’t anymore alive than a computer virus and a computer virus “does” a lot more stuff than a biological virus.
But, and this is the cool thing, through random mutations and absorbing junk DNA viruses change their genetic code subtly and when those changes result in more copies of it being made then you’ve got a new version. When those changes result in fewer copies being made, then it dies out.
That evolutionary pressure makes it appear that viruses have desires and motivations, but it is simply a direct effect of the laws of physics.
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