I demand a refund and an upgrade
Aug. 19th, 2017 08:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alex_antoninSomething just occurred to me. Science says that old age happens because our cells can no longer replicate themselves, because the replication process damages DNA, and eventually that DNA gets so damaged it can't replicate anymore.
But if that's true, then how did life get to this point to begin with? How do bacteria replicate, again and again, without suffering the same fate? If our cells are doomed to this fate, then why not bacteria? Judging by the fact that bacteria get along just fine replicating forever without ever dying of replication failure (if they did, life wouldn’t have lasted more than a century before going completely extinct), then we can safely say it's not necessary for us and should not be happening.
My point is, old age is clearly a mistake. Clearly, evolution fucked up somewhere along the way, and if it hadn't, we would all be immortal and eternally youthful.
And don't tell me it's not a mistake, and that we need to grow old and die of old age replication failure for some sciencey reason, because judging by the fact that bacteria don't have those problems and manage just fine without them, we clearly shouldn't be dying of old age either.
But if that's true, then how did life get to this point to begin with? How do bacteria replicate, again and again, without suffering the same fate? If our cells are doomed to this fate, then why not bacteria? Judging by the fact that bacteria get along just fine replicating forever without ever dying of replication failure (if they did, life wouldn’t have lasted more than a century before going completely extinct), then we can safely say it's not necessary for us and should not be happening.
My point is, old age is clearly a mistake. Clearly, evolution fucked up somewhere along the way, and if it hadn't, we would all be immortal and eternally youthful.
And don't tell me it's not a mistake, and that we need to grow old and die of old age replication failure for some sciencey reason, because judging by the fact that bacteria don't have those problems and manage just fine without them, we clearly shouldn't be dying of old age either.
no subject
Date: 2017-08-19 04:30 pm (UTC)They reproduce by dividing and evolve via transcription errors during that, or by trading plasmids (which is how a lot of organisms, not just single-celled ones) wind up which genes from very distant species.
Old age is simply a matter of our genes not having any use for us after we have (theoretically) reproduced.
That's why going downhill after our 20s or 30s happens. The genes involved may be bad for us as individuals, but for our genes we're not that likely to reproduce after that, so there's no evolutionary disadvantage to getting old.
Remember, it's all about passing on genes. Anything that happens after that *doesn't matter* to evolution.
And even if you look at it on the macro level, getting old and dying makes room for our offspring (if any). Which is an *advantage*.
Evolution isn't about organisms ass much as it's about their genes.
Being gay fits into this too. A gay critter may not reproduce, but if its presence make its *relatives* (who share most of its genes) more likely to survive, then the gay gene is an advantage (as long as it doesn't occur in the majority of the population).