# Juan Enriquez shares mind boggling science.



## Kevinaswell (May 6, 2009)

This is a super good ted talk by this dude that is pretty much putting everything into perspective a bit in relation to the future of humanity and where things are leading.

I didn't include the first 2 parts because....well, watch 'em if you want but it was pretty much just explaining why everything sucks so hard financially. 

The juice starts here though:

YouTube - Juan Enriquez shares mindboggling science pt 3

YouTube - JuanEnriquez shares mindboggling science pt 4

YouTube - Juan Enriquez shares mindboggling science pt 5

YouTube - Juan Enriquez shares mindboggling science pt 6

YouTube - Juan Enriquez shares mindboggling science pt 7

I really enjoyed this fellas talk 

What'd you guys think?

If nothing else, THAT AWESOME TERM HE COINED AT THE END????

Holy crap what a badass thing to be called.


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## sprinkles (Feb 7, 2010)

Heh even_ he_ said the synthetic cell is like hardware. (yes I am still on that) >.>

Anyway, cool stuff.


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## entplay (Feb 6, 2010)

sprinkles said:


> Heh even_ he_ said the synthetic cell is like hardware. (yes I am still on that) >.>
> 
> Anyway, cool stuff.


 
this talk better explains this concept

you can see it at 9 minutes and 50 seconds if you want to skip right to it


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## sprinkles (Feb 7, 2010)

entplay said:


> this talk better explains this concept
> 
> you can see it at 9 minutes and 50 seconds if you want to skip right to it
> 
> YouTube - Juan Enriquez: Decoding the future with genomics


I understand the concept. It's still not software. The floppy disk analogy nails down how wrong it is: floppy data basically is loaded into _memory_ - which requires hardware, machine code, and software - then it is _interpreted_ - which requires more hardware, more machine code, and more software - and then _executed_ - through the hardware, machine code, and software. It continues through this process in cycles, and if what you have on the floppy is a software program in itself, that adds even another layer of executions when you run that.

It is nowhere near analogous to an apple falling off the tree, unless it's a tree with a BIOS chip, RAM, and a CPU. :bored:


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## Kevinaswell (May 6, 2009)

The dna is akin to software, not the cell :O


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## sprinkles (Feb 7, 2010)

Kevinaswell said:


> The dna is akin to software, not the cell :O


The way it is _arranged_ could be considered a form of information. It is deoxyribonucleic acid! It is not software! >.< A floppy disk is not software, a CD rom is not software. A floppy or CD are not like cells either. 

CD for example. You have an arrangement of a polycarbonate layer which represents the data. It is still a _polycarbonate layer_. Without that, you only have a clear plastic disc. DNA would be like the polycarbonate and the plastic coating could be like the cell. But guess what?_ If the polycarbonate is not 'configured', or etched to be read by a laser, it contains no data! It's just polycarbonate! So the data is not the polycarbonate, it's how it is arranged on the disc._

You can maybe get away with calling it information, or even a blueprint... calling it "software" is just modernized inaccurate lingo to make it look more magical and impressive than it probably actually is.


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## moon (Nov 29, 2008)

Kevin I appreciate your posts more than the posts made by all other members combined. You rule.


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## entplay (Feb 6, 2010)

sprinkles said:


> It is nowhere near analogous to an apple falling off the tree, unless it's a tree with a BIOS chip, RAM, and a CPU. :bored:


The *cell *has the Bios chip, RAM and CPU. Its more of a *literary conceit* in that it helps someone to imagine a complex concept and the general way it works, it's necessary for scientist who have to envision how to apply this knowledge. Scientist don't go around thinking about how to decode DNA without having a general framework in their mind's eye about how the process works. The Phds think about it in terms of software too. Do you see what I'm trying to say? 

I thought explaining it like this would help back you up from the trees, can you see the forest?


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## sprinkles (Feb 7, 2010)

entplay said:


> The *cell *has the Bios chip, RAM and CPU. Its more of a *literary conceit* in that it helps someone to imagine a complex concept and the general way it works, it's necessary for scientist who have to envision how to apply this knowledge. Scientist don't go around thinking about how to decode DNA without having a general framework in their mind's eye about how the process works. The Phds think about it in terms of software too. Do you see what I'm trying to say?
> 
> I thought maybe explaining like this would help back you up from the trees, can you see the forest?


Yes I do. It's fine for scientists. I'm saying it is not fine for an average person. Stop trying to tell me your view and address mine, because I already understand yours.

I see no point in telling somebody it is like software when a lot of people don't even understand _software_. They may as well call it 'magic'. Software, instructions, whatever, they are all the same - but software is a very special and particular case. The only correlation they make is 1's and 0's with the genetic code with instructions. The same analogy could apply to a book, a picture, or a blueprint. Why they are stuck on the most particular and highly specific example of _software,_ and why you seem to be defending it over all else, I haven't got a clue.... because it sure isn't being informative.


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## entplay (Feb 6, 2010)

I've explained it to you from every angle possible. I've given you several examples(posts/videos) of why its like software. You seem to be an authority on something you know nothing about. You have a hard time with being wrong. Its ok to be wrong sometimes, you're human....accept it!


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## sprinkles (Feb 7, 2010)

entplay said:


> I've explained it to you from every angle possible. I've given you several examples(posts/videos) of why its like software. You seem to be an authority on something you know nothing about. You have a hard time with being wrong. Its ok to be wrong sometimes, you're human....accept it!


I could say the same to you but I actually don't give a shit anymore.


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