Are We Simply Cells In A Body?

Just some philosophical musing:

In a multi-celled organism, the body is a structure comprised of:

-systems, which are made up of various organs, serving the largest and most essential processes that keep the entirety of the body functioning properly

-organs, which perform specified functions, within the systems of which they are part

-cells, which make up the structure of the organs by specializing themselves for that specific organ's functions

-resources, which take the form of chemicals, that are utilized by: the cells, therewith to perform the functions of organs; the organs, therewith to perform the functions of the systems; the systems, therewith to perform the functions necessary to keep the body alive and fulfill it's purposes

A creature of this type forms an animal or plant, which acts as an individual body. Sometimes it cooperates with others, sometimes it wars with others. Sometimes it devours others or is devoured.

It's interesting to note how a governmental body functions, mimicking this very structure. It's comprised of:

-governmental branches, which are made up of various organizations, businesses, and state parties, serving the most essential processes that are needed to keep the government functioning properly

-local governments, businesses, and corporations, which perform specific functions, within the governmental branches of which they are part

-people, which make up the structures of local governments, businesses, and corporations, by specializing themselves for specific trades, careers, jobs, etc which are particular to that public office, business, or corporation and serve it's functions, in that way

-resources, which are used by the people, to perform their specialized purposes, and traded, excreted, refined, transformed, or others created by the organ (corp., business, local govt.) of which they are a specialized cell (worker)

The 'government' takes the form of countries, which act as individual bodies. Sometimes they cooperate with one another, sometimes they war with one another. Sometimes they devour one another or are devoured.

A government participates in signaling, self-sustaining, homeostasis, metabolism, grow, adapt, undergo metabolism, respond to stimuli, and reproduce. It's 'dna' could be compared to our laws, while it's 'rna' could be compared to social constructs and culture. It's 'immune system' could be compared to law enforcement, ostracizing, and social stigmatization. In as many ways as one could define life, a governmental body appears to fulfill each characteristic.

Evolution occurs, theoretically, when an organism undergoes adaptations (or beneficial mutations) that increase it's ability to thrive and reproduce, in the present environment. When the environment is not hospitable to the adaptation, those with the adaptation reproduce more slowly than those without, or not at all, and the genes that carry the adaptation are not passed on to offspring. When the environment is hospitable to the adaptation, those with the adaptation reproduce abundantly, allowing for the gene that carries it to pass to offspring who display the same adaptation. Eventually, enough adaptations occur that the organism is so distinct from it's ancestors that it is considerably a different species, entirely. The determining factor, however, is whether the adaptation is relevant to the environment and whether the environment is hospitable to the adaptation, allowing it to thrive.

I submit that a cell, inside of a body, cannot pass on adaptations contrary, detrimental, or irrelevant to the body and it's systems, for it will die off - this is what we call a disease. A disease is a disorder of structure or function in a human, animal, or plant, especially one that produces specific signs or symptoms or that affects a specific location and is not simply a direct result of physical injury. For this purpose, we can leave out " in a human, animal, or plant," for we are not talking about human, animal, nor plant diseases but disease in the abstract.

An example of a disease would be cancer (easy one) - a cancer is, essentially, faulty genetic information and a rampant reproductive inclination, which is passed on through cells to their offspring; this creates a cancerous tumor which, as we all know, spreads throughout the body and hinders it's essential functions in favor of it's own purposes. One could liken this to an attempted adaptation that could lead to evolution of the cells which undergo it... but, of course, this leads to the death of the entire body, limiting access to the resources upon which those cells are dependent.

There is also infection, in which alien agents invade the body and inhibit the functions which are essential to the welfare of the body. Typically, these are fought off and destroyed by the immune system. Even cells that are not immune specialized can be re-purposed to achieve those ends, like vigilantes. In extreme cases, the infection proves too crafty and/ or powerful and defeats the immune system, leading to the eventual death of the whole body because the lesser functions cannot produce the higher functions necessary to the body's prosperity.

So, one can draw parallels. What, in governmental bodies, exhibit similar behavior and relationships? Political movements which are contrary, detrimental, or irrelevant to the governmental body, and arise from within the governmental body, are directly parallel to a disease (in that governmental body). These, typically, need to be addressed by the governmental body, itself, in order to prevent them from taking over to the detriment of the political body, in much the same way as the human body must consciously intervene by means of surgery and extraction, etc.

Invading armies, spies, guerilla acts of aggression and terrorism, and crime exhibit the same behavior as an infection. Indeed, they are alien and from without and work to the detriment of the body if unchecked. They can be eradicated by the immune system (law enforcement, ostracizing, and/ or stigmatization). In extreme cases, those invaders conquer the governmental body and it dies. This, obviously, is how a new civilization takes hold.

It should be noted that, in a body where the constituents are so specialized that they cannot thrive without the entirety of the body, those constituents can never adapt to the end of their own evolution but any adaptation they successfully undergo can only be for the betterment of the entire body of which they are part for, should they adapt in such a way as is to the detriment of the body (that part adapting to achieve it's own ends over the ends of the body), the body will fail and the resources, environment, and hierarchy, which make it possible for that part to thrive will no longer exist and the part will die, as well. However, there is one difference between the adaptation of cells within a human body and the cells within a governmental body. The cells of a human body die, when they don't have a body to live in. The cells of a governmental body form a new governmental body, when they don't have a governmental body to live in. This is because the cells, within a human body, have specialized so much that they can only perform functions unique to their housing body. Of course, in governmental bodies, there are many a person(s) that are so radically specialized that they can only perform functions unique to the housing governmental body. At large, however, humans can still re-purpose themselves - some more effectively than others and those that cannot are typically taken care of by those who can.

So, we can deduce that humans have a choice: either work toward the evolution of the governmental body of which they are a part or work toward independent evolution. It must be pointed out that some adaptations can occur within the populous to the betterment of the body, as a whole, but this would not be independent evolution - this would simply be the further specialization of the populous to the end of the benefit of the body, as a whole. Independent evolution will always be to the detriment of the housing body.

I assert that humans find themselves at the supposed pinnacle of independent evolution because we have replaced independent evolution with a new, abstract life form known as 'government'. Is this the next natural step of the total evolution of all life? Who can truly say, for, with governmental bodies, we cannot allow for independent evolution to compare. It would seem that whatever individual faults that exist, unique to humankind, are here to stay... until a governmental body, that allows for those without such faults to thrive, comes into being.

Thanks for reading. I hope it gave you something to think about. If you have any thoughts, feel free to share them. Enjoy your day! Erik