4 ms·

And if you’re in that quirky intellectual mood, could you also think of all of humanity as being a single organism, since we all share about 99.9% of our DNA? C

And if you’re in that quirky intellectual mood, could you also think of all of humanity as being a single organism, since we all share about 99.9% of our DNA? Certainly a thought I find hard to shake observing cities from the window of an airplane..

dogcomplex 8y ago
I'm not someone who studies this stuff, but I'd wager that the 99.9% thing isn't quite the same context as the 75% thing, and two ants in the same colony are more similar than two humans. Not to detract from your comment about all humans being one organism and whatnot (hell, maybe ants and our bodies operate on a different level of consciousness that as specialized intellectual creatures we typically override woooah mann). I mostly just wanted to fish for more info on this 75% thing from someone who studies DNA and can confirm my hunch - and maybe has more info on correlation between DNA similarity and cooperative behavior.
- mcv 8y ago
  > I'm not someone who studies this stuff, but I'd wager that the 99.9% thing isn't quite the same context as the 75% thing, > and two ants in the same colony are more similar than two humans. Exactly. There are several very distinct contexts for discussing percentages of genetic similarity, and although it's usually clear from context which one people are talking about, making it explicit would prevent nonsensical conflicts like this 99.9% vs 75% one.
  - callesgg 8y ago
    Its not 99.9% vs 75% It is more like 75% closer to 100% than 99.9%
    - mcv 8y ago
      That's exactly my point. They represent totally different things.
matheusmoreira 8y ago
> Certainly a thought I find hard to shake observing cities from the window of an airplane.. What about maps? Reading maps of highly-populated and industrial locations reminds me of histology. Perhaps cities are the organs of humanity and the roads are the blood vessels...
- SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
  Zoom out a bit further and you'll see the universe has the same structure. Or in a bit further and have a look at neurons.
kevinventullo 8y ago
One difference is that thinking of an ant colony as a single Superorganism is a way for biologists to talk about Darwinian evolution of ants. That is, they frame the colony as the unit of evolution.

dogcomplex 8y ago

I'm not someone who studies this stuff, but I'd wager that the 99.9% thing isn't quite the same context as the 75% thing, and two ants in the same colony are more similar than two humans. Not to detract from your comment about all humans being one organism and whatnot (hell, maybe ants and our bodies operate on a different level of consciousness that as specialized intellectual creatures we typically override woooah mann). I mostly just wanted to fish for more info on this 75% thing from someone who studies DNA and can confirm my hunch - and maybe has more info on correlation between DNA similarity and cooperative behavior.

mcv 8y ago
> I'm not someone who studies this stuff, but I'd wager that the 99.9% thing isn't quite the same context as the 75% thing, > and two ants in the same colony are more similar than two humans. Exactly. There are several very distinct contexts for discussing percentages of genetic similarity, and although it's usually clear from context which one people are talking about, making it explicit would prevent nonsensical conflicts like this 99.9% vs 75% one.
- callesgg 8y ago
  Its not 99.9% vs 75% It is more like 75% closer to 100% than 99.9%
  - mcv 8y ago
    That's exactly my point. They represent totally different things.

matheusmoreira 8y ago

> Certainly a thought I find hard to shake observing cities from the window of an airplane.. What about maps? Reading maps of highly-populated and industrial locations reminds me of histology. Perhaps cities are the organs of humanity and the roads are the blood vessels...

SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
Zoom out a bit further and you'll see the universe has the same structure. Or in a bit further and have a look at neurons.

kevinventullo 8y ago

One difference is that thinking of an ant colony as a single Superorganism is a way for biologists to talk about Darwinian evolution of ants. That is, they frame the colony as the unit of evolution.