3 ms·
What if we look at it from the other side, too? How much competition and individual optimization is going on among the cells in the bodies and brains of animals
by meowface 6y ago
What if we look at it from the other side, too? How much competition and individual optimization is going on among the cells in the bodies and brains of animals, including humans? I suppose one of the big differences is the shared lineage and DNA, though I don't know how much that affects cooperation.
- taneq 6y agoExactly! We think ourselves as a single thing but we're more like a megalopolis inhabited mostly by bacteria with infrastructure provided by a clone army. Of course in our dystopian internal society any unsanctioned individuality is quashed by the militarised police... unless of course it isn't at which point it metastatizes and everyone dies. (The question about shared DNA is really interesting - so much of our individual drive for survival is a result of our K-strategist genetics and the resultant selection pressures over the years. If we spawned like octopi or grew from spores like orks, how much different would our worldview be?)
- youareostriches 6y agoMany types of stem cells indeed undergo competitive selection within a tissue, and the victors differentiate into somatic cells. Reduced competition within this process is responsible for things like skin aging.