Virus: Discussing macroscopic possibilities

Our world view is limited by our own senses and our size and scale. I am throwing out a possibility of studying viruses through another lens. 

Many people believe that COVID-19 is the mother earth’s fight against human infection[0]. It is quite possible that viruses are earth’s antibodies trying to keep the earth healthy. Viruses are known to keep the balance and diversity of microbes in the oceans. [1] Viruses have been eliminating species that run wild since the beginning of life on earth. They are a major driver in human evolution[ 2][ 3]. Recent studies have shown that viruses could have been the reason we have life on earth.[ 4][ 5] So, there is more to viruses than it is commonly known. In this blog, I would like to discuss the possibility of studying viruses through another lens. Allow me to take you through some seemingly unrelated illustrations to make my point. 

Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. Instead you multiply, and multiply, until every resource is consumed. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern… a virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You’re a plague….-Agent Smith (The Matrix)

Our schools taught us that the whole world is made of small Lego-like building blocks that make up everything around us. It is rather surprising that we see such diversity of material despite the fact that there are only 118[6] original pieces. By contrast, LEGO has 23131 unique pieces [ 7]

In human scale if you were the nucleus your electron is stalking you from 60 Km away

Let’s look right into one of these atoms. How big is an atom? It is only a few picometers across. The atom is believed to be made up of a nucleus and electrons. (It is rather the path of the electron that defines the boundary of an atom). How big is the electron? It is 10–15 m. In the human scale, if you were the nucleus your electron is 60 Km away from you. Imagine your stalker constantly stalking you from 60 kilometers away. And despite the distance between electrons and the nucleus they are part of an inseparable entity, the atom.

Now let’s change scales. The moon, earth, sun, the solar system, and our galaxy. We can fit 221 moons between the earth and the moon[8][9]. We can fit 24000 piles of earth between the sun and the earth[ 10][11] a few hundred trillion suns between the sun and the center of our galaxy[ 12][ 13]. Even here everything you see the sun, moon, earth, and the black-hole that might be there at the center of our galaxy are all physically separated but we recognize that each is in-separable and is part of the whole. Each deriving its property and behavior from the quarks, electrons, and nucleus.

 

Given these examples is it possible that we are part of something bigger than ourselves? Could we be the electrons of an atom of a different kind? Our unit of interest is primarily based on physical separation. We recognize each of us as individuals but rarely recognize ourselves as part of the whole. (Except when it comes to religion and politics). We have a sense of identity and a big fat ego that drives our actions. Actions motivated by self-interest and greed. Even as a species we separate ourselves from the rest of the species and tend to think of ourselves as supreme. We have physically separated ourselves from nature and no longer “live like the animals”.

 Let’s introspect on our own existence. Each of us are made up of trillions of individual living cells[14] all of which are working in unison, some even killing themselves, to keep YOU alive and healthy. We see these cells all physically held together. (the cell may not view it that way) This makes our bodies; this gives us consciousness; this gives us our ego. And this fabric of our own making is perhaps limiting us from “seeing” the world with a different lens.

If individual cells within a human being were “smart” would they have figured out about human existence?

Given the context from the previous paras. Can human societies, cities, and villages be conscious? Could nature, mother earth be conscious? Another way of looking at it: if individual cells were “smart” like us would they have figured out about your Human existence?

So, can we / should we explore for consciousness/life among matter that is seemingly disconnected on a human scale. If the answer to that question is yes, then I’ll come back to the subject I started with: Covid-19.

While we are still debating if the virus is alive or not [15] we are still looking at each virus individually at a microscopic level. Could the collection of viruses spread across different humans be collectively conscious? Is it possible for this consciousness to transcend several generations of viruses? Just like the human consciousness transcends across several generations of cells. Some sort of theory like Loop Quantum Cosmology (LQC)[16][17] for the biological world. No, I am not proposing that we negotiate terms with this consciousness :). I am just discussing possibilities. 

Look forward to your comments and thoughts.