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?

Question

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?

In: 7067

Answer 1

It doesn’t have or need “instinct”. It’s like a little clockwork machine full of gears. What happens when it moves can *look* like a living thing, but it’s a completely inanimate object operating on mechanical principles. When one gear turns another gear, there’s no “instinct” required for the second gear to “know how to move”.