At 20:43 12/05/99 -0700, you wrote:
>Dave wrote:
>
>>Got any references to the blurred distinction between viruses and genes? I
>>thought viruses were kind of the phenotype and genes the replicator,
>
>Actually viruses are more like little chunks of DNA with a squid head on
>one end. They grab onto a cell's nucleus (with the little
>squid-head-thingy) and inject their own genetic material right into it, so
>that the cell ends up doing all the hard replication work for them, thinking
>it's its own DNA, and the virus never really needs any of that hardware or
>much of a phenotype at all other than that little squid-head-thingy
>attachment. (Oh, I just love those technical terms!)
Dumbed down just for me. Cheers! I like the bit where you adopt the intentional stance about cells. Apparently Dennett based the intentional stance on that exaggerated arms-crossed pose invented by 80s rapper Kool Moe Dee.