[MD] Oneness, Dualism & Intellect

[ian glendinning]

Platt, I'll split this into two halves.

You said.
>
> Fascinating? Not to me.

Ian asks, how do you explain how and why they do mutate ?

The you asked.
> Do they mutate into something other than viruses?
>
> Yes or no.

Yes, (but).

I say but, because it is a matter of perspective - scale and time and
probability.

[IGNORE as an aside for now]
You and I may never have seen one do it. No-one may have seen one do
it in a human lifetime for all I know.

Mostly their mutations are probably insignificant in any observable
sense, some of the mutations will result in different viruses with
different reactions with their biosphere (eg us humans and our
health), but no reason why some should not mutate into forms which
contain more life type characteristics. There are plenty of
explanatory models of the evolution of life that postulate this, and
cite "fossil record" evidence (in the broadest sense), and plenty that
cite existing everyday processes in zygote and prion development that
are entirely analogous by observation, ditto with certain funghi and
their spores, ditto the symbiotic relationships between higher
life-form hosts and their viral / bacterial "guests". But we don't
need to go anywhere that complex yet - a step too far for now.
[END IGNORE]

Keeping it simple for now. A question
Do you see any significant difference between say
The common cold virus and the ebola virus ?
(After all the are both "just" viruses)

Yes or no.

Ian