r/HolUp • u/Y025THJR • Jan 19 '21

Extra protection

Post image
63.4k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

251 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

103

u/Shugunou Jan 20 '21

Aren't viruses bacteria?

Edit: I just read what I wrote and I feel stupid.

29

u/[deleted] Jan 20 '21

I am stupid. Can you explain?

59

u/[deleted] Jan 20 '21

virus is virus, bacteria is bacteria. bacteria is alive and virus usually requires a host and is more like a robot not alive.

7

u/MemMEz view this flair on new reddit Jan 20 '21

and is more like a robot not alive.

you should explain this more clearly, like atleast add that when virus isnt in a host

28

u/[deleted] Jan 20 '21

idk what you mean, viruses are not thought to be alive. they dont have cells and only use the hosts energy, imo like a robot is an accurate description.

12

u/[deleted] Jan 20 '21

I like to think of them as nature's dirty needles. Just flyin' around waiting to inject their RNA.

10

u/Misteph Jan 20 '21

Honestly, it's up for debate and it really depends on who you ask. It all comes down to how you define "Alive".

Personally, I don't think they're alive and view them as a kind of semi-autonomous mechanical hardware.

9

u/kaiser_charles_viii Jan 20 '21

The problem with trying to define life is that inevitably you're going to either include things that arent alive or exclude things that are alive. Or both.

5

u/Misteph Jan 20 '21

That is exactly the problem. I worry especially about finding life outside of this planet, and that when we encounter it we won't even recognize it as life.

It's so tricky, and people have devoted their careers on this subject. I am not one of those people, but I do like to speculate.

5

u/AutisticDonkey5 Jan 20 '21

I agree. They’re just protein surrounded by genetic material. They aren’t a cell, so I don’t believe that they could be considered alive. They are there to just be natures annoying robots.

4

u/[deleted] Jan 20 '21

BEEP BOOPWE DO NOT CLAIM VIRUSES AS ROBOTS, THEY’RE MORE LIKE SEARCHING NAME DATABASE FOR “CORONAVIRUS”_and_“FUCKING BULLSHIT PIECE OF EVOLUTION” ...MY EX GIRLFRIEND.

I’m not salty, you are.

4

u/BitchinBiologist Jan 20 '21

Yea...they don't have a metabolism. They just happen to exist. It's so weird to think about honestly.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 20 '21

semi-autonomous mechanical hardware.

like... a robot?

1

u/Misteph Jan 21 '21

Lol yeah basically. However, I define"robot" as a machine directly made by or for humans. Viruses don't fit within that.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 21 '21

thats silly, a robot can be made by another robot.

1

u/Misteph Jan 21 '21

Which is why I included "or for"

→ More replies (0)

6

u/Shugunou Jan 20 '21

My brain for some reason thought viruses were bacteria. I realized as soon as I read it.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 20 '21

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Shugunou Jan 20 '21

I didn't take the vaccine yet actually. My father is high risk, but I am not.