this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2024
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Science Memes

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Humans didn't invent agriculture (sopuli.xyz)
submitted 4 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 19 points 4 months ago (4 children)

This is like the question I've always asked about getting sick.

Do you produce extra mucous because your body is trying to get rid of what's making you sick or does the illness make you produce more mucous in order to spread more easily?

[–] [email protected] 32 points 4 months ago (2 children)

I suspect the serious answer is that we produce mucus and sneezing as a natural response to microbes, and that's the environment within which microbes have evolved to take advantage of the mucus and sneezing

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Survival of the fittest does not work with intent.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

It does if I kill loads of stuff

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago

Pretty sure this is exactly correct. I read the Kurzgesagt book Immune recently and it was a fascinating view into how our bodies are really the result of ancient warfare, with constant oneupmanship between us and the environment.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 4 months ago

Evolution is a loop of random mutations that get reproduced if they randomly happen to give the organism better odds at reproduction.

Some germ gets a little better at spreading via mucous, so it gets to reproduce more because humans make mucous when they get sick

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago

Idk about the mucous, but a fever is definitely an attempt at killing whatever foreign pathogen is there. Hopefully a pathologist or doctor can help us here.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago

Mucus is one of the bodies innate methods of protection, same with vomiting, same with crying same with sweating. The body knows something is wrong so it kicks the production of those into overdrive to hopefully force whatever was in it out. Its why we start sweating, salivating and sometimes vomit when we eat super spicy peppers despite the fruit being room temp amd full of water