On Feb 10, 8:17 am, "Stephen P. King" <[email protected]> wrote:
> > Hi, > > > How would your reasoning work for a virus? Is it "alive"? I > > think that the notion of "being alive" is not a property of the > > parts but of the whole. > > > Is it a question directed to craig or to me ? > > Hi, > > It is directed at both of you. :-) > > Onward! Hi Stephen, Right, not the parts but the whole, but also who is looking at the whole. It's the same question as substitution level. Where does yellow green end and green yellow begin? It depends what color it's sitting next to and how sensitive someone's vision is to color. It's all indexical and relative. A virus is more associated with life than a glucose molecule alone, but less living than a living cell. Here's an extended metaphor: Medieval walled city with a castle in the middle. Peasants work the land for the lord in the castle and there are invasions of rogue peasants from other territories who steal, beg, etc. To pick out these virus peasants and ask 'are they feudal' is framing it objectively when it can only be subjective. There is no 'simply is', only many 'seems like' interpretations. The threat of invasion strengthens the benefit of the Lord's protection, which in turn encourages the loyalty and productivity of the peasants. In that way, the rogue bandits are indeed a part of Feudalism. Craig -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en.
