Post B0ahT2SPQhxZEE1dOy by ND3JR@social.coop
(DIR) More posts by ND3JR@social.coop
(DIR) Post #AzDiJoULPaxCvojbDk by jgg@qoto.org
2025-10-11T17:38:53Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@jameshowell @zarfeblong If we call alive to everything with a capability for evolution, then open source sofware aplications are alive (by versioning and forking), as well as many, many other things. Being alive becomes a mathematical term, more than biological.I fully get your point. Nature doesn't care what we call alive or not. As long as we don't mix definitions, there is no point in wasting time with semantics. Thank you for the clarification.
(DIR) Post #AzDiJpRtqAanuWbA36 by jeffcliff@shitposter.world
2025-10-15T03:08:43.993339Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@jgg @jameshowell you might enjoy: https://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2007/01/pinocchio-problem.html
(DIR) Post #AzDiKoLdQ4pIml8WFk by jeffcliff@shitposter.world
2025-10-15T03:08:58.009024Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@jgg @jameshowell you might enjoy: https://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2007/01/pinocchio-problem.html
(DIR) Post #AzDiQZvnvusjoJnwh6 by jgg@qoto.org
2025-10-11T16:40:31Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@jameshowell @zarfeblong Andrew, congratulations for such an amazing job.About viruses, I have been hearing people arguing about the "viruses are alive or not" thing since forever; last time I checked, biologists seemed to have come to a consensus/armistice, classifiying them as 'semi-alive'. Is that the case?From my POV, it looks like the kind of classification that depends heavily on the exact definition of 'alive' you choose.
(DIR) Post #AzDiQafXBtSg69CSyO by jeffcliff@shitposter.world
2025-10-15T03:09:58.343318Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@jgg @jameshowell > The contents of the IF Archive (including donated games, tools, documents, and other material) are the intellectual property of their original creators. Theyuh no they aren't. " intellectual property" is not a thing https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/not-ipr.en.html
(DIR) Post #B0ahT2SPQhxZEE1dOy by ND3JR@social.coop
2025-10-11T21:48:07Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@jameshowell Working in the MAGFest computer museum, I can relate to this. There's a reason why we hold on to CRT monitors and floppy disks. While emulation can help in some cases it can't solve the problem of providing a program in the original context it was written in.
(DIR) Post #B0ahTxvnk6L5TtDPd2 by atextor@chaos.social
2025-10-12T07:32:32Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@jameshowell You don't even have to go as far as archiving or "legacy" systems" to encounter this effect. In modern corporate software development, you are constantly forced to adapt your program to "outside changes": Some 20 years ago, you'd have to do this every couple of months or years, now it's days or weeks. As much as a quarter of your overall development time is used (wasted?) just on this.
(DIR) Post #B0ahVVNOsbrZUzrIKu by Illuminatus@mstdn.social
2025-10-11T16:35:23Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@jameshowell As my professors all along my five years of biology in undergrad uni used to reply "Define "life".
(DIR) Post #B0ahWDFRlXe3Z4TZ32 by nikatjef@mastodon.acm.org
2025-10-11T17:08:05Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@IlluminatusIt has been over 40 years, but that was the answer one of my teachers gave back in high school biology class... Of course they then proceeded to talk about the requirements to be classified as loving; reproduction, consumption, excretion, etc. they then told us to open our books to some page and the ol' Sominex interlocks engaged@jameshowell
(DIR) Post #B0ahYrIHqbMYLN49FA by blackcoffeerider@social.saarland
2025-10-13T05:23:59Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@jameshowellIn biology class we learned that viruses are not alive like animals or bacteria. They have no metabolism on their own, do not react to their environment (other than infection mechanisms) and have no means to reproduce on their own.So why is that a question now adays that the higer educated in the room is quoting them in sPoNgEbOb CaSe?Your answer is a strawman. It would fit the question: "if they can't keep their structural cohesion in a vulcano - are they actually alive"?
(DIR) Post #B0ahZJUJ1Vc7mku8rg by blackcoffeerider@social.saarland
2025-10-13T21:45:33Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@jameshowell while i fully agree with the core concept of your closure statement here: https://fediscience.org/@jameshowell/115356269574664982i dont understand how the basis needs to be the original toot at all or how that connects - but then again I am not in your mind so there is some hidden chain that is indeed elusive...I see that there is no black and white... i still dont understand why organic chemistry starting with something as trivial as methane is a valid subset yet here we are.
(DIR) Post #B0ahZRS7PWcMUHwVZA by blackcoffeerider@social.saarland
2025-10-13T21:51:11Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@jameshowell In my book Implying that a virus is alive leads to interesting thought-chains where we should think about accusing teenage boys in their bedroom spanking the monkey of mass murder... Would be interesting to see how that burns down with the current US administration...