Hi everyone,
I’m not very knowledgeable about science, so I’m struggling to understand the notion that viruses aren’t “alive”, and the robot analogies people use. I understand that they don’t have some of the characteristics (cells, ability to reproduce), but my mind can’t wrap itself around the notion that they’re like objects. Can you please give some examples that could explain this in a way that is accessible to someone who isn’t very advanced in the subject?
Thanks
EDIT: wow thanks so much guys for so many amazing replies!!!
In: 29
Maybe rather than objects, another way you could think of viruses is that they’re like ideas. It’s more like a recipe than a rabbit or a rock.
Viruses don’t reproduce themselves. They’re little packets of information, all saying “make more of me.” They come into contact with living things carrying this instruction: “make more of me”
Not every animal can read every recipe, but those that can understand it say “sure, I’ll make more of you.”
Then we sneeze them out, poop them out, or otherwise send them on their way, where the new copies *we’ve* made can come into contact with other recipients.
Living things adapt to our environments, make more of ourselves, and generally “do things.” Viruses don’t do things, hence their object-likeness. They’re just instructions
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