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Good for you. Strictly speaking, poop is not your body's output, it's your body's waste, and as such is indeed a good indicator of your body's efficiency in pul

Good for you. Strictly speaking, poop is not your body's output, it's your body's waste, and as such is indeed a good indicator of your body's efficiency in pulling out what it needs from the input. I guess your body's output is energy?

thelittleone 4y ago
Good point. Similar to a car. Fuel is necessary to create power (output) and the exhaust is the waste. Putting bad fuel in reduces power and bad exhaust can be a symptom.
- cwillu 4y ago
  It's not the exhaust, that's what you exhale. It's more like disposable packaging. There isn't really a good analogy to fueling up a car; being fed by IV maybe?
strainer 4y ago
I would say there is no strictly speaking there without a strict context. Bear in mind the characteristics of different animals excrement is not designed to any specification, it evolves in the context of it altering the animals habitat to some extents. We specify 'waste' should alter our habitat to a minimal degree, but we cant say for sure it evolves to that effect. It can fertilize, it can create apparent immediate problems, but such apparent problems can have significant systematic roles. To me the term 'output' then is less potentially misleading than 'waste'. A bit like the distinction between a crop and a weed. Our naming of things encapsulates presumptions and intentions, which is fitting for design, but things that are not designed are liable to exceed expectations.
ac29 4y ago
> Strictly speaking, poop is not your body's output A significant fraction of poop is bacteria. Sources vary a bit, but for example, this study gives the fraction as ~55% of solid matter: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7359576/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7359576/ To the extent that your body contains a large bioreactor in the gut to maintain a population of beneficial microflora, you could argue poop thus is one of your bodies outputs (and yes, it contains waste products as well).

thelittleone 4y ago

Good point. Similar to a car. Fuel is necessary to create power (output) and the exhaust is the waste. Putting bad fuel in reduces power and bad exhaust can be a symptom.

cwillu 4y ago
It's not the exhaust, that's what you exhale. It's more like disposable packaging. There isn't really a good analogy to fueling up a car; being fed by IV maybe?

strainer 4y ago

I would say there is no strictly speaking there without a strict context. Bear in mind the characteristics of different animals excrement is not designed to any specification, it evolves in the context of it altering the animals habitat to some extents. We specify 'waste' should alter our habitat to a minimal degree, but we cant say for sure it evolves to that effect. It can fertilize, it can create apparent immediate problems, but such apparent problems can have significant systematic roles. To me the term 'output' then is less potentially misleading than 'waste'. A bit like the distinction between a crop and a weed. Our naming of things encapsulates presumptions and intentions, which is fitting for design, but things that are not designed are liable to exceed expectations.

ac29 4y ago

> Strictly speaking, poop is not your body's output A significant fraction of poop is bacteria. Sources vary a bit, but for example, this study gives the fraction as ~55% of solid matter: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7359576/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7359576/ To the extent that your body contains a large bioreactor in the gut to maintain a population of beneficial microflora, you could argue poop thus is one of your bodies outputs (and yes, it contains waste products as well).