6 ms·

Arguably all multicellular life on earth is an example of biological cooperation.

_aavaa_ 4y ago
If you are looking at the cells of that multicellular life. But if you look between multicellular organisms it's not so cut and dry. The lion and its prey are in cooperation only in some abstract sense of keeping their shared ecosystem alive, but are very much antagonistic in practice.
- hourago 4y ago
  > The lion and its prey are in cooperation only... Lions cooperate with other lions, humans cooperate with dogs, symbiotic organisms are all over the planet. Humans are apex cooperators. Our civilization, from planes to schools, from the banana that you eat this morning to the microchips of your computers, all comes from a very complex cooperation between humans. Remove the trust to cooperate and we go back to live in caverns. Nobody cooperates better than humans, ants or bees cooperation is just on basic functions, we are way better than that.
- 7952 4y ago
  The mammalian genes survive regardless. The gene for having a neocortex survives in both lions and antelope. And that survival may be at the expense of other more distant species.
zajio1am 4y ago
but between cells that have the same genome.
s1artibartfast 4y ago
Or biological totalitarianism. Is easy for your privileged brain and nerve cells to claim such high-minded ideals. Meanwhile, your skin cells are treated as disposable and have a medium lifespan of 14 days
- pasquinelli 4y ago
  that must mean there's a class of cells that keep skin cells in their station. which cells are those?
  - JumpCrisscross 4y ago
    > which cells are those? Macrophages, though your immune system broadly [1]. (Every cell has a variety of programmed death processes built in, too.) [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apoptosis https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apoptosis
  - none_to_remain 4y ago
    When cells try to "get above their station," it's called cancer, and there are classes of cells and other mechanisms in the body constantly fighting against it.
    - pasquinelli 4y ago
      why'd you put "get above their station" in quotes? is it because the whole metaphor is kind of stupid?
      - none_to_remain 4y ago
        I was merely setting the metaphor apart from the rest. I'm not sure if the metaphor is stupid or not.
OscarCunningham 4y ago
Even singled celled life is cooperation between the many genes using those cells to reproduce.
- TeMPOraL 4y ago
  At that level personification of biology breaks down completely. Genes are not cooperating. Genes are pieces of a self-replicating pattern. Those patterns get shuffled and mixed a lot, but they also just get copied over and over even more. Some patterns are easier/faster to copy than others, and some are uncopyable. Over time, some patterns remain stable while others disappear, but that's not a result of work and cooperation - it's just a purely statistical phenomenon.

If you are looking at the cells of that multicellular life. But if you look between multicellular organisms it's not so cut and dry. The lion and its prey are in cooperation only in some abstract sense of keeping their shared ecosystem alive, but are very much antagonistic in practice.

hourago 4y ago
> The lion and its prey are in cooperation only... Lions cooperate with other lions, humans cooperate with dogs, symbiotic organisms are all over the planet. Humans are apex cooperators. Our civilization, from planes to schools, from the banana that you eat this morning to the microchips of your computers, all comes from a very complex cooperation between humans. Remove the trust to cooperate and we go back to live in caverns. Nobody cooperates better than humans, ants or bees cooperation is just on basic functions, we are way better than that.
7952 4y ago
The mammalian genes survive regardless. The gene for having a neocortex survives in both lions and antelope. And that survival may be at the expense of other more distant species.

zajio1am 4y ago

but between cells that have the same genome.

s1artibartfast 4y ago

Or biological totalitarianism. Is easy for your privileged brain and nerve cells to claim such high-minded ideals. Meanwhile, your skin cells are treated as disposable and have a medium lifespan of 14 days

pasquinelli 4y ago
that must mean there's a class of cells that keep skin cells in their station. which cells are those?
- JumpCrisscross 4y ago
  > which cells are those? Macrophages, though your immune system broadly [1]. (Every cell has a variety of programmed death processes built in, too.) [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apoptosis https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apoptosis
- none_to_remain 4y ago
  When cells try to "get above their station," it's called cancer, and there are classes of cells and other mechanisms in the body constantly fighting against it.
  - pasquinelli 4y ago
    why'd you put "get above their station" in quotes? is it because the whole metaphor is kind of stupid?
    - none_to_remain 4y ago
      I was merely setting the metaphor apart from the rest. I'm not sure if the metaphor is stupid or not.

OscarCunningham 4y ago

Even singled celled life is cooperation between the many genes using those cells to reproduce.

TeMPOraL 4y ago
At that level personification of biology breaks down completely. Genes are not cooperating. Genes are pieces of a self-replicating pattern. Those patterns get shuffled and mixed a lot, but they also just get copied over and over even more. Some patterns are easier/faster to copy than others, and some are uncopyable. Over time, some patterns remain stable while others disappear, but that's not a result of work and cooperation - it's just a purely statistical phenomenon.