Corona virus does not care about us.

[Cateran]

is this true? Does Covid-19 have an agenda? If so, what is its purpose as a pandemic? What is it for?

[2greys]

I t does not care about anything, it is just a single strand of RNA, a sequence of chromosomes, and it is not sentient at all. It does not think and has no feeling at all. It does however have a purpose, the same one that all life has and that is to procreate.

[Gladwyn in reply to 2greys]

Sounds like my ex.

[Caspiana in reply to Gladwyn]

😂😂😂

[watergazer in reply to Gladwyn]

🤣

[teenieleek]

Fire (Australia), flood (U.K.), plague of locusts (Africa) and now pestilence. Is someone trying to tell us something? Since I’m a non-believer maybe it’s our planet trying to tell us something about our behaviour? No, of course that’s fanciful but perhaps this should give the world pause for thought.

I dislike anthropomorphism e.g. a bus with a sign that says “I’m not in service” so a virus can’t have an agenda (except possibly world domination haha).

[Katinka46]

That is a really interesting question, and 2greys has, of course, with his interest in scientific research, has got it right, but that is not the end of the story.

Viruses have their purpose.

"Bacteria and viruses are essential for life on earth; there are billions of types of bacteria, many of which can take inorganic compounds and turn them into from that living things can use. But the bacteriophage viruses attack the bacteria, splitting them open and releasing these nutrients." This is from an article by Dr Alison Grey. I cannot quote the whole article but she went on to say: "All of us have viruses living in us, along with many types of bacteria which are important for our continuing health..... Viruses can be used by scientists a positive, redemptive way. Our understanding of genetics, of how cells work, and how we can alter DNA and cells' machinery are possible only because of viruses the cut DNA strands in precise places." In essence I think she is saying that viruses are part of the whole eco system of our planet. And if we value biodiversity in some areas then we have to accept biodiversity in all areas, however small.

Thank you for getting me to fish out this article again.

We need clear scientific analysis to understand this.

Kate xx

[2greys in reply to Katinka46]

Life on the planet actually started with virii and bacteria that mutated into simple single cell organisms and so on, without them we would not be here at all.

[Cateran in reply to Katinka46]

Many thanks Katinka for this sophisticated response. My intention, my human purpose in this question was to pop in a bit of thinking about purpose and directed intention on the part of inanimate matter. Can inanimate matter have a direction,a motive, so to speak, which implies agency in an unlikely quarter, that of bacteria and a virus? Or is inanimate the wrong category, for my search? I am reminded of the analogy of a definition of a scholar: one library's way of creating another library. So, when Alison Grey talks about "inorganic compounds" at the use of living things, is she implying agency of an outside source animating an inorganic thing? Rather than "clear, scientific analysis" isn't a bit of Socratic questioning helpful here?

[cofdrop-UK in reply to Cateran]

🤔 Er... No you’ve lost me my dear friend Terry🤔

Cx

[Hidden in reply to cofdrop-UK]

Me too

[Cateran in reply to cofdrop-UK]

It wasn't my intention cofdrop, and I have nothing but respect for your eloquence when keeping us informed and straight about bronchiectasis and other lung matters. I also include Hanne62 in this clarification. We learn so much from each other, and 2greys is always there at the front lading the class with his research. Aren't we a well-informed group my friends. Hacienda must not be left off the roll call of honour and brings a flair of the eccentric at times

[cofdrop-UK in reply to Cateran]

I know it wasn’t lovely gentleman. Btw Hope you and your wife are keeping on an even keel.

Love cx

[Hidden in reply to Katinka46]

Both virus and bacteria were here on the planet before we were and they always will be. They were the very first living organisms without them there would not be life on Earth. As 2greys says.

[Gladwyn in reply to Hidden]

The original Adam and Eve then?

[cofdrop-UK]

Absolutely agree with everyone’s comments and a little envious of their eloquence, not being at the front of the queue in that department. We all know from living with our conditions that bacteria and viruses can be good or bad and are opportunistic and getting the balance is essential. Covid is very bad but as 2g stated it’s purpose is to procreate, nothing more.

What I hope comes out of this dreadful time is that as a human race we realise we are not as important as we think we are, and many of our decisions have such a negative effect on the planet we should be cherishing. I hope too that we appreciate and respect much more than we have done in the past people who are essential and important to our everyday lives, who are often poorly paid and that we do something to alter that.

Cx

[Hidden in reply to cofdrop-UK]

Hey don’t say that cof, your comments are always articulate & well expressed, as here. Also, I totally agree with your sentiments!

[cofdrop-UK in reply to Hidden]

That’s very kind of you to say my friend.

Cx

[Hidden in reply to cofdrop-UK]

Well you & I hardly went to school did we? You were in hospital most of the time if I remember right! I do love words but find verbiage off putting so I try (not always successfully!) to avoid it 😉

[cofdrop-UK in reply to Hidden]

That’s true we were. I wonder if your hatred of verbiage comes from your legal background.

Cx

[Hacienda in reply to cofdrop-UK]

Totally Agree with you Cof, I Too, am not so Eloquent in presenting or expressing myself, But I do Try, and Hopefully you all understand me. Thank you Dear C. Stay Safe. XXX C. Love n Hugs.

[Katinka46 in reply to cofdrop-UK]

No more talk of a lack of eloquence, dear Cof. You have it in shedloads and you keep us up to the mark with all the latest research on bronchiectasis, which I read even though I don’t have it. And this reply to Cateran says it all: clear, concise but most importantly compassionate.

Love as always

Kate xxx

[Hacienda in reply to Katinka46]

Quote : "I bring a Flair of the Eccentric" I never Knew That. !!! Have a lovely Wednesday Kate & Cof. from your Eccentric Friend. Stay Safe. XXXC.

[Katinka46 in reply to Hacienda]

Oh yes. Definitely, and we love you for it.

Love and e-hugs

Kate xxx

[Hacienda in reply to Katinka46]

Love you too Kate. Have a Good day. XXX C.

[SORRELHIPPO]

I think that these very small life forms do have a purpose, as part of the overall life on the planet, they keep various populations from growing too big, keep the balance in nature. Of course we are now disrupting this with vaccinations etc.

[Katinka46 in reply to SORRELHIPPO]

The logical, evolutionary approach is to let herd immunity sort it out, and take its course, weed out the old and vulnerable leaving a younger, fitter, immune population of humans. But something else kicks in: that amazing and inexplicable impulse to love and care about others, even those on the other side of the world who we will never meet. Thank goodness.

I judge a society on how it cares for its weaker members. And is prepared to shoulder the cost.

Kate x

[Cateran in reply to Katinka46]

Evolution is evolution katinka despite our search for moral alternatives to sweeten the unpalatable truth of germs and their purpose, which 2greys touched upon earlier. If the R is now a central motif of science and pandemics, then reproduction is a given. This may appear a bleak statement and I hope that you are right about humanist outlooks.

[tomc]

well, Just mark your door with lambs blood and you will be spared....?

[Hidden in reply to tomc]

[teenieleek]

I’ve just seen a frog hopping across the back grass, a plague of frogs was next wasn’t it? I can’t remember the other plagues of Egypt despite years of church and Sunday school.

[Caspiana in reply to teenieleek]

There were ten, actually teenieleek , boils, frogs, lice, pestilence, water to blood, hail and fire, darkness, death of a newborn and locusts. I don't remember the sequence. xx 😑

[Ergendl]

This virus is not particularly good at being a virus: they are most successful when they keep their hosts alive and mutate quickly so that they can re-infect the same person, as in the cold virus.

[Cateran in reply to Ergendl]

That is quite intuitive Ergendl and again we come back to the idea of purpose, "not particularly good at", as if the virus were ineffective because not doing its job properly. If we evolutionary determinists then the problem of role play emerges, and goals. What is Covid-19 as self-directed, if not to reproduce itself? Does modern medicine act to prevent that outcome along with the political acts of social distancing and self-isolation, or are these merely the micro responses within a determined macro environment?

[Ergendl in reply to Cateran]

This wasn't my own thought, it was what I was taught in microbiology lessons in the early 1990s. The most successful viruses are those which don't kill their hosts and mutate regularly. It was my own spin to follow the direction of the post and make Covid-19 sound as if it was a sentient being which had failed a job interview.

[Cateran in reply to Ergendl]

Sorry Ergendl, I left out "were" at the beginning of my second sentence.