Spiritum in machina?

[Epictetus]

Maybe I an just missing something obvious. Perhaps I missed school the day my biology teacher explained this. Then again perhaps my question is one that would have made my old high school bio and chem teacher frown and shrug and say, as he sometimes did, "If I knew that, I'd get a Nobel Prize."

So what I want to know is why do cells do what they do? I understand about the various organelles, and osmosis and such, I think, but why doesn't a cell just sit there? I am not religious, and I don't want to get those who are, started, but is it the divine spark? The ghost in the machine? Spiritum in machina? Or is it just electro-chemical reactions and the like? Sorry, if this is braindead of me to ask.

 

[Michael]

Brownian motion.

 

[Aqueous Id]

I like Michael's answer. It answers your question on many levels. We can speak in terms of the philosophical "first cause" of motion, or probability theory, or chemistry, or biology or even physics. In each case we will discover that random motion of chemicals serves as a free means of transport that forms pathways between each of the various specialized structures within a cell. Once these structures have a free means of communicating, they will do exactly what their functional characteristics dictate. Nature supplies all the raw ingredients that are the objects set in motion (water, nutrients, oxygen, etc.).

We can talk about transcription, protein synthesis, mitosis - any subject you like - and the "cause" of the activity is merely random particle transport. From the chemical motors that wiggle the tails of flagellates or the hairs of ciliates or the feet of pseudopods, the seemingly "conscious decision" to move through their environment is nothing more than the result of a sequence of chemical reactions. Even the seemingly conscious determination by photosensitive algae to swim toward light, is merely a chemical response that favors a position in which the chloroplast is able to utilize the free energy of the sun.

Obviously the old world philosophers had no science to explain these phenomena, so they invented theories of their own, of the presence of a spirit or pneuma - a supernaturally caused animation that was "breathed" into them. Now that their theories have been disproven, there is nothing left for us to explore as far as the mystery of the "breath" is concerned...besides, we have our hands full understanding all of the consequences of Brownian motion!

 

[wynn]

Life is, basically, dumb, and all that, yes.

 

[Aqueous Id]

Life is, basically, dumb, and all that, yes.

Life is basically chemicals in motion--I believe that was Michael's observation-- which comports with the best evidence, as far as I understand it.

"Dumb" imposes an anthropomorphic characterization on chemicals in motion which makes no sense. Perhaps by "dumb" you mean "random".

And random is exactly right. Here: look into the cytoplasm of the ganglial cell that inspired you with that connection:

 

[wynn]

Yeah, there is absolutely no difference between

and

 

[C C]

...but why doesn't a cell just sit there?

Somatic cells? And why rather than how?

I suppose one might squeeze a "why" from cellular migration being what must happen in order for a complex metazoan organism to develop its body, to be a multicellular organization in the first place. With such "programmed to do this" baggage being the result of the process of retaining mutations or discarding patterns/characteristics over time, according to how they either aided or inhibited reproductive success in a particular environmental domain; or just "hung around" because they were neutral -- neither detrimental nor clearly helpful (at least to human discernment).

But the "reasons" for "why" a cell does what it does are not all carried and detailed as part of its genetic plan. The resulting stages of group arrangements and chemical signalings can guide cells and trigger changes in them -- the emerging "collective" system begins a role of regulating the "parts" so to speak. That is, the original "molecular instructions" in DNA depend on some of the body structure and activity eventually yielded to work-out areas of the "assembly scheme" that it does not contain.

If "how" was nevertheless superficially ventured into this, then the movements of these somatic cells seem to arise from internal cytoskeletal rearrangements that allow them to extend, retract, and divide. But various mechanisms have been proposed to explain cell migration in groups or overall patterns, so there may be no solid consensus about that (i.e., choose your camp).

 

[Crunchy Cat]

Maybe I an just missing something obvious. Perhaps I missed school the day my biology teacher explained this. Then again perhaps my question is one that would have made my old high school bio and chem teacher frown and shrug and say, as he sometimes did, "If I knew that, I'd get a Nobel Prize."

So what I want to know is why do cells do what they do? I understand about the various organelles, and osmosis and such, I think, but why doesn't a cell just sit there? I am not religious, and I don't want to get those who are, started, but is it the divine spark? The ghost in the machine? Spiritum in machina? Or is it just electro-chemical reactions and the like? Sorry, if this is braindead of me to ask.

Cells have DNA that define their behaviors. In other words, they do what they do because their DNA is coded that way.

 

[arauca]

Cells have DNA that define their behaviors. In other words, they do what they do because their DNA is coded that way.

I would add, it follows economics Demand and DNA makes it provided the raw material is available.
I believe the temperature is important for material transfer within the cell, I believe the viscosity in the cell is relatively high , so the Brownian motion are a function of temperature and at the same time the material in the cell is of high molecular weight

 

[wlminex]

Maybe look at Casimir Effect and neuron activity . . . Google Quantum Consciousness . . . CE MAY affect DNA structures . . .and coding

 

[Aqueous Id]

Yeah, there is absolutely no difference between ....

What? You say: no difference between

and

So what I want to know is why do cells do what they do? I understand about the various organelles, and osmosis and such, I think, but why doesn't a cell just sit there?.... Or is it just electro-chemical reactions and the like?

?

Or did you mean:

and

?

 

[Aqueous Id]

why doesn't a cell just sit there?

Cells are sessile or motile depending upon which feature is best adapted to the evolutionary niche a given cell occupies.

The animation within the cell may be more at the heart of this question. There would perhaps be no cause for wonder about the ghost in the machine, if we had a clear understanding of how the machine works.

When cells produce structure, in the presence of Brownian motion, you get a running machine:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJyUtbn0O5Y&feature=related