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This comment reminds me of the first time I saw genetic code in github and realized that the analogy of computer code to genetic code is almost not an analogy b

This comment reminds me of the first time I saw genetic code in github and realized that the analogy of computer code to genetic code is almost not an analogy because on some level they're the same thing. I find it interesting but uncomfortable.

agumonkey 5y ago
code but we don't have the interpreter figured out yet
- chasil 5y ago
  The interpreter is the ribosome. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribosome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribosome
  - stainforth 5y ago
    Are there fields of study focusing on understanding life from that perspective?
- jcranmer 5y ago
  To be honest, a better analogy is that the genetic code is an image of the disk drive, and we do understand the ISA of the processor it's running on. We have no clue what the operating system is, though, nor do we understood the boot process, nor do we even understand what the equivalent of the ELF file format is for this machine.
m_fayer 5y ago
The thought that makes me most uncomfortable is the idea that we're reading code written by a dumb process, not a living thing. Dumb physical processes shouldn't be able to compose anything. It's like we broke into the universe's private files and found an infinity of insane scribbling, about us. It's uncanny.
- howdydoo 5y ago
  We spent our lives searching for the Creator, and in the end all we found was GitHub Copilot
csense 5y ago
The Human Genome Project's been completed for a long time. And didn't Google recently solve the protein folding problem? Shouldn't we have an assembler, compiler, and linker by now? What's taking so long?
- biofox 5y ago
  A large part of the problem is that we have no idea what the proteins do, and how, where, and when they interact with one another. It's like trying to understand Linux from just looking at the /bin directory. Simply having the executables tells us very little about the system as a whole.

agumonkey 5y ago

code but we don't have the interpreter figured out yet

chasil 5y ago
The interpreter is the ribosome. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribosome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribosome
- stainforth 5y ago
  Are there fields of study focusing on understanding life from that perspective?
jcranmer 5y ago
To be honest, a better analogy is that the genetic code is an image of the disk drive, and we do understand the ISA of the processor it's running on. We have no clue what the operating system is, though, nor do we understood the boot process, nor do we even understand what the equivalent of the ELF file format is for this machine.

m_fayer 5y ago

The thought that makes me most uncomfortable is the idea that we're reading code written by a dumb process, not a living thing. Dumb physical processes shouldn't be able to compose anything. It's like we broke into the universe's private files and found an infinity of insane scribbling, about us. It's uncanny.

howdydoo 5y ago
We spent our lives searching for the Creator, and in the end all we found was GitHub Copilot

csense 5y ago

The Human Genome Project's been completed for a long time. And didn't Google recently solve the protein folding problem? Shouldn't we have an assembler, compiler, and linker by now? What's taking so long?

biofox 5y ago
A large part of the problem is that we have no idea what the proteins do, and how, where, and when they interact with one another. It's like trying to understand Linux from just looking at the /bin directory. Simply having the executables tells us very little about the system as a whole.