Aren't we all made of identical neutrinos, cells, or whatever? So if "someone" from outer space or from out of space would look at our little earth, perhaps all it could perceive would be a mass of undifferentiated molecules? Perhaps our whole universe would appear that way?
I wonder if forms are that tenuous? Of course, if I hit my head against a wall, I definitely know forms do exist.
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If they were all identical, though, how could you differentiate one creature's DNA from another's?
ReplyDeleteWe're all just different configurations of the same building blocks, though - I think. Like different Lego creations.
Interesting thought. I guess (in my total ignorance!) I was thinking of elements smaller than DNA because I wouild include (in my imagination) all the things we think as not alive... I guess they would be like Lego!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year, CoolOne!
Greetings Kati! This is an interesting and thought-provoking discussion. I believe that the answer, or at least part of it, has to do with the concept of accuracy versus precision.
ReplyDeleteFor example, we may fashion a crude scale out of a log fulcrum and arm, tied together with rope, where we put "known" weights on a tray on one side and then the object that we wish to weigh on the other side. If we can come up with the same answer for the weight of a particular object, time and again, we say that the device is accurate. However, as you can imagine, it may not be very precise. At all. Although, it might be. We could measure that. On the other hand, we can have a super-duper sensitive machine that measures weight (or mass) right down to the micro gram. But, in five successive readings, we might have a variance of as much as 20%. Well, okay, it's a super-sensitive machine, but not very accurate. Or perhaps it is. Depends on the machine. The trick, then, is to find the best confluence of accuracy and sensitivity when trying to measure for this sort of thing. Or, perhaps it's to find the most sensitive device possible and just take tons of measurements.
How does that relate to your question? Well, let's say that you're sitting at the table looking at a plate of food on which some rice, mashed potatoes, and grits have been placed. From your chair, you can likely easily tell the difference between the three dishes, even though they're all white, mushy foods. However, if you were asked to view the same plate from a greater distance, like, say, from across the room, or, with far less of the food on the plate (say, a microscopically-small piece of each), you'd likely have a much more difficult time discerning which is which.
So, if our alien outer space observers have super-sensitive, highly-accurate measuring devices, they could likely be able to pull back away from their observations just enough to see the grits, rice and mashed potatoes of our humanity. But, if they're still across the room in their technological advancements, with equipment that can't yet handle the challenges, then, perhaps you're correct: we'd look no different than our surroundings. And, truth is, I don't know if that's a good or bad thing? ;-)
Smaggy, that's a fascinating response. I love "the grits, rice and mashed potatoes of our humanity".
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