NationStates Jolt Archive

I've been thinking about life lately. Specifically ants and humans. Ants seem to be seperate units of one organism: the colony. But then I see the same thing in a human. After a human or any animal dies, the cells stil live for a few hours. The different cells, like ants, make up a union that is conciousness. So death would be the end of a union, right? *tries to remember the point of this thread* ...So could humans or any other animal for that matter be referred to plurally?

Also, do you agree with my union theory/idea?

Did I/we make any sense at all?

Maybe, but the cells that control consciousness die upon death, rendering the idea moot IMHO.

Also, poor third choice on the poll. Tsk tsk.

No, because a single cell, or neuron/synapse, or transistor, or line of code doesn't produce the property itself; you can't take one of those things and have a fully functioning process. It takes millions, even billions of them working together to produce a single process, so it would be accurate to refer to the process in the singular rather than highlight all of the smaller components that go in to it.

I've been thinking about life lately. Specifically ants and humans. Ants seem to be seperate units of one organism: the colony. But then I see the same thing in a human. After a human or any animal dies, the cells stil live for a few hours. The different cells, like ants, make up a union that is conciousness. So death would be the end of a union, right? *tries to remember the point of this thread* ...So could humans or any other animal for that matter be referred to plurally?

Also, do you agree with my union theory/idea?

Did I/we make any sense at all?

Yes it did. I have a personal belief thats similar. Thats why I see gangsters, sociopaths and other people who harm society rather than do it good as cancer and poor government as a brain disease. America is an old fat mentally challenged man plagued with cancer, has a failing immune system and (analogically speaking) has many outside things keeping it alive. He is also trying to desperately win a "fight" with Iraq, who just got a severe blow to the head (government) and is now suffering from a multi-personality disorder (civil war for control).

Maybe, but the cells that control consciousness die upon death, rendering the idea moot IMHO.

I'm fairly certain they still live. I think it's the "union" that dies.

I'm fairly certain they still live. I think it's the "union" that dies.

Consciousness and life are detectable by brainwaves, which only stop when the brain dies.

I've been thinking about life lately. Specifically ants and humans. Ants seem to be seperate units of one organism: the colony. But then I see the same thing in a human. After a human or any animal dies, the cells stil live for a few hours. The different cells, like ants, make up a union that is conciousness. So death would be the end of a union, right? *tries to remember the point of this thread* ...So could humans or any other animal for that matter be referred to plurally?

Also, do you agree with my union theory/idea?

Did I/we make any sense at all?

Individual ants themselves have multi-celled brains. What distinguishes us from them in the sense you speak of is their capacity for purely collective operation. The hivemind. While at times, a classic example being mob mentality, humans will behave as in a hivemind, an individual human is merely a conglomeration of specialized cells that each serve a purpose for the whole. These cells, however, do not have a distinct identity like an individual ant might have despite being part of the hivemind.

Edit: I originally thought this thread was going to be a mini-lesson on economics. :D

there's a theory that the human body is up to 90% alien cells...in other words, we're entirely symbiotic relationships (if you buy into that)

we are more like a boarding house. we have more bacteria in our body than we have our own cells.

we are more like a boarding house. we have more bacteria in our body than we have our own cells.By number, not by volume. Bacteria are very small compared to body cells.

As for the OP; you could look at the body as a union, but it is such a close union that really none of the cells can live without the whole. Hence why we don't turn into a goo while each cell goes on it's own merry way when we 'disband'.

I think it's a moot point. Of course we can see a human as its cell constitutents, we could also delve into those cells and consider the parts therein and the parts therein. We can view the seperate individual constituents of an ant colony as a whole, or the ecosystem they are a part of as one whole, or the universe for that matter.

We can and do consider things at varying scales. We for instance view human beings as whole individuals, as a collection of constituent parts and as constitutent parts themselves (of their families, societies, hobby groups, politico-group, ethnic group....etc).

It appears we dont have the capacity to consider things fully as they are, so we 'short-hand' things. When we do that we pay attention to some aspects while ignoring others. Everything can be individuated, but so too can it be seen as a constitutent part of the larger universal whole. When we consider a quark, the remainder of the universe doesnt go away, and vice-versa.

ANd then there's the symbiotic relationship with bacteria that we cant live without...I forgot to mention

We do not refer to ourselves in plural or third person. Isn't that right, you guys?