37 thoughts on “The nature of us”

  2. In the video it is said that each of the cells has “a different genetic code”.

    Hmm. I though that all of them, in their nuclei, use the same genetic code, the Universal code.

    It seems that the writer of the video does not know what a “genetic code” is.

  3. Enjoyable. Reminds me of Lewis Thomas’s “Lives of a Cell” stuff.I like the comment at the end about continua v. black & white.

  5. James Shapiro thinks cells are sentient beings.

    Bacteria as natural genetic engineers….

    This remarkable series of observations requires us to revise basic ideas about biological information processing and recognize that even the smallest cells are sentient beings.

    James Shapiro

    Well, I don’t think so, or at the very least I haven’t had a conversation with a cell that persuaded me that it was sentient.

  6. There is no organic or inorganic entity that has a nature. Any materialist/naturalist denies essences. The nature of us is a meaningless question.

  7. Joe Felsenstein: It seems that the writer of the video does not know what a “genetic code” is.

    People here at TSZ don’t know what a “genetic code” is. Why not enlighten everyone and tells us?

  8. Immediately suspect is the claim that cells have no purpose. But that simply must be true, because there is no purpose for anything, not even cells.

  9. But in the next breath the narrator goes on to list a number of things that cells gather together in order to accomplish.

    Is it possible then that some cells could gather together for the purpose of identifying self-refuting nonsense? Nah, that’s just silly.

    As everyone here at TSZ knows, there is no such thing as a self-evident truth, and the absence of any self-refuting nonsense is an important pillar for that position.

  10. The narrator claims that “your cells” can exist “without you.”

    It is no doubt just this sort of claim that Richardthughes had in mind when he prayed to the gods that his OP would start a lively discussion. I think he forgot who his audience is. If they exist without you, then they are not your cells.

    It doesn’t take a genius.

  11. Mung:

    It doesn’t take a genius.

    No, but it takes someone a lot smarter than Mung.

    The narrator claims that “your cells” can exist “without you.”…If they exist without you, then they are not your cells.

    Sure they are. Your liver cells, functioning in vitro, are still your liver cells. Your DNA, found in your cells at a crime scene, is still your DNA.

  13. A cell is a living being.

    It follows that there is no such thing as a dead (non-living) cell.

    In spite of what keiths may think.

  15. Joe Felsenstein:
    In the video it is said that each of the cells has “a different genetic code”.

    Hmm.I though that all of them, in their nuclei, use the same genetic code, the Universal code.

    It seems that the writer of the video does not know what a “genetic code” is.

    Are you disputing the narrators comments that each neuron cell in the brain has around 1000 mutations that are not the same as the cells next to it?

    Furthermore how can a lung cell have the same code as a liver cell, if they are not the same?

    Maybe its you who doesn’t know what a code means?

  16. phoodoo: Are you disputing the narrators comments that each neuron cell in the brain has around 1000 mutations that are not the same as the cells next to it?

    Furthermore how can a lung cell have the same code as a liver cell, if they are not the same?

    Maybe its you who doesn’t know what a code means?

    The genetic code they use is the same. The sequences of DNA they have are different. See the difference?

  17. phoodoo,

    Furthermore how can a lung cell have the same code as a liver cell, if they are not the same?

    During development cells differentiate and become tissue specific. This is a process where non tissue specific DNA gets turned off (methylation). The type of cells where multi tissue cells DNA is turned on are called stem cells.

  19. phoodoo, to TristanM:

    The sequence of DNA is not a genetic code? Huh?

    phoodoo,

    Do you understand the difference between Morse code and a message expressed in Morse code?

  20. keiths:
    phoodoo, to TristanM:

    phoodoo,

    Do you understand the difference between Morse code and a message expressed in Morse code?

    Yes.

    But what I can’t understand is the exact same Morse code message which means either “I am in trouble, please send help” or “This place is great, bring some more beer, the party is on.”

  21. keiths:

    Do you understand the difference between Morse code and a message expressed in Morse code?

    phoodoo:

    Yes.

    Do you understand the difference between the genetic code and a genotype expressed in that code?

  22. keiths,

    Again, if you are having trouble getting the distinction keith, it is this:

    How can the exact same code, written by the exact same machine, and interpreted by the exact same machine, give different results for the exact same code? Is it the code that is different or the machine that is different?

  23. First things first, phoodoo.

    Let’s clear up your confusion over the difference between genotypes and the genetic code.

    Different messages can be expressed using the same Morse code, just as different genotypes can be expressed using the same genetic code.

    Are those distinctions clear to you?

  24. phoodoo: How can the exact same code, written by the exact same machine, and interpreted by the exact same machine, give different results for the exact same code?

    It depends on whether you are reading the first paragraph of the encoded message, or the second paragraph.

  25. keiths: Do you understand the difference between Morse code and a message expressed in Morse code?

    Yeah phoodoo. DNA is a message. And keiths is a closet ID’ist.

  26. I love how it’s not until 4:46 in that we’re leaving science for philosophy.

  27. Neil Rickert: It depends on whether you are reading the first paragraph of the encoded message, or the second paragraph.

    Neil,

    Who is deciding which paragraph to read? Don’t you need a code to create the organism which decides which code to read?

  28. phoodoo,

    Have you ever considered learning some biology?

    Wikipedia:

    In developmental biology, cellular differentiation is the process of a cell changing from one cell type to another. Most commonly this is a less specialized type becoming a more specialized type, such as during cell growth. Differentiation occurs numerous times during the development of a multicellular organism as it changes from a simple zygote to a complex system of tissues and cell types. Differentiation continues in adulthood as adult stem cells divide and create fully differentiated daughter cells during tissue repair and during normal cell turnover. Some differentiation occurs in response to antigen exposure. Differentiation dramatically changes a cell’s size, shape, membrane potential, metabolic activity, and responsiveness to signals. These changes are largely due to highly controlled modifications in gene expression and are the study of epigenetics. With a few exceptions, cellular differentiation almost never involves a change in the DNA sequence itself. Thus, different cells can have very different physical characteristics despite having the same genome.

    There’s more where that came from. LMGTFY.

  29. keiths: phoodoo,

    Have you ever considered learning some biology?

    keiths, have you ever considered learning some compassion?

  30. Mung:

    keiths, have you ever considered learning some compassion?

    Says the guy who literally two minutes earlier wrote this:

    And the stats for post-Atheism show that Atheism is a minority position held by idiots.

    Less hypocrisy and more substance, please, Mung.

  31. keiths: These changes are largely due to highly controlled modifications in gene expression and are the study of epigenetics.

    You seem to think you are saying something. Yet, we still haven’t answered what is deciding to read which paragraph (epigenetics). If you don’t have a code somewhere that tells the epigenetics what to do, how does it know what to do? Why doesn’t your epigenetic system tell your head to turn into a horse liver? (Perhaps it does?)

    Epigentics has no code??

  32. phoodoo,

    I repeat:

    There’s more where that came from. LMGTFY.

    You see that text in blue? That’s a hyperlink. Click on it and see what happens.

  33. phoodoo: Why doesn’t your epigenetic system tell your head to turn into a horse liver? (Perhaps it does?)

    Phoodoo does not understand biology therefore nobody does. Seems reasonable.

  34. keiths,

    You still haven’t answered how an epigentic system can work without having a code telling it what to do (your cop out to a cut and paste which answers nothing regarding the question notwithstanding.)

  35. I repeat:

    I repeat:

    There’s more where that came from. LMGTFY.

    You see that text in blue? That’s a hyperlink. Click on it and see what happens.

    Why not give this “learning” thing a try, phoodoo?

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