3 ms·

my takeaway from this is that the human body is actually really complex. even the immunologists quoted cannot say for sure about how the body responds to certai

my takeaway from this is that the human body is actually really complex. even the immunologists quoted cannot say for sure about how the body responds to certain viruses. each one of us is unique and has different response levels. however, it's good to know that children have more a aggressive immune system response than older people and hopefully make their bodies somehow adapt to the Covid-19 virus.

IfOnlyYouKnew 6y ago
It's two billion lines of spaghetti code created by iterative randomness and implementing its own compiler (and, as a side gig, perl) Parts of the code have evolved to code for two entirely different functional segments depending on the direction they are read in, while others have randomly duplicated and taken on entirely new functions over time. Energy has become the specialisation of a type of bacteria that at some point somehow avoided death after being eaten by a cell and instead founded its family of somewhat strange but super-efficient metabolisers. So yeah, it's complex.
- missosoup 6y ago
  It's complex and beautiful. "We are all just a somewhat interesting random arrangement of photons"
  - kazagistar 6y ago
    Its a nice sentiment but inaccurate. If you wanted a fundamental particle that we are mostly made of, gluons would be a better boson to pick, since they make up the majority of the mass/energy of subatomic particles in matter. Why would you say photons?
    - doliveira 6y ago
      Our biological processes are caused by the electromagnetic force, which is mediated by photons.
      - dwaltrip 6y ago
        Are you saying this because chemical bonds are largely due to electromagnetic force? That is true as far as I am aware. Although it does seem like a peculiar way to say it: "Our biological processes are mediated by photons". But maybe that is just me. Regardless, it still is incorrect to say we are simply an arrangement of photons. The matter making up our body is composed of atoms, which are composed of electrons, quarks, and gluons (fundamental particles in the standard model).
      - nvader 6y ago
        But those photons wouldn't have source or destinations if it wasn't for the hadrons and fermions. Maybe we're both luminous beings and this crude matter.
nickthemagicman 6y ago
This is not accurate. There are extremely well enumerated principles in immunology and they can tell you with statisticly significant accuracy what will happen immunologically in your body. What this article does it takes that small fraction of exceptions and makes it sound like it's the rule. Think of medicine and side effects. It's the same idea. This article is extremely sensational fear-mongering reporting and people eat the stuff up.

IfOnlyYouKnew 6y ago

It's two billion lines of spaghetti code created by iterative randomness and implementing its own compiler (and, as a side gig, perl) Parts of the code have evolved to code for two entirely different functional segments depending on the direction they are read in, while others have randomly duplicated and taken on entirely new functions over time. Energy has become the specialisation of a type of bacteria that at some point somehow avoided death after being eaten by a cell and instead founded its family of somewhat strange but super-efficient metabolisers. So yeah, it's complex.

missosoup 6y ago
It's complex and beautiful. "We are all just a somewhat interesting random arrangement of photons"
- kazagistar 6y ago
  Its a nice sentiment but inaccurate. If you wanted a fundamental particle that we are mostly made of, gluons would be a better boson to pick, since they make up the majority of the mass/energy of subatomic particles in matter. Why would you say photons?
  - doliveira 6y ago
    Our biological processes are caused by the electromagnetic force, which is mediated by photons.
    - dwaltrip 6y ago
      Are you saying this because chemical bonds are largely due to electromagnetic force? That is true as far as I am aware. Although it does seem like a peculiar way to say it: "Our biological processes are mediated by photons". But maybe that is just me. Regardless, it still is incorrect to say we are simply an arrangement of photons. The matter making up our body is composed of atoms, which are composed of electrons, quarks, and gluons (fundamental particles in the standard model).
    - nvader 6y ago
      But those photons wouldn't have source or destinations if it wasn't for the hadrons and fermions. Maybe we're both luminous beings and this crude matter.

nickthemagicman 6y ago

This is not accurate. There are extremely well enumerated principles in immunology and they can tell you with statisticly significant accuracy what will happen immunologically in your body. What this article does it takes that small fraction of exceptions and makes it sound like it's the rule. Think of medicine and side effects. It's the same idea. This article is extremely sensational fear-mongering reporting and people eat the stuff up.