Who do You think You are?

From the article you linked:


I think the key phrase is "within the body." This would not cause us to be only 10% human.

I'm not doubting your comment, but I don't understand your distinction. Are you saying that the scientist are looking at some internal cavity(ies)? If that is what you're saying did you verify this?

o.O

eh????

I don't mean any disrespect by this, but do songs just pop into your head when you hear specific phrases?

I've had that happen to me at times, but not for a while now.

yup, as soon as i read the title that tune just popped into my head

The fact that bacteria outnumbers human cells does not reduce us to "10% human". 95% of the bacteria is found within the intestines.

It seemed that the article was talking about total mass. So you're saying that 95% of our mass is found in out intestines?

I think you are missing the point. Being within the body does not make something a part of the body.

Odd, I just read a reference to that at the end of a book I just finished this morning, Engleby, by Sebastian Faulk. I'm still coming up from the book (as opposed to down) - it was very interesting to me at the same time I kept getting more and more depressed.

Re the question, I think I'm me... another whole subject re concept of self, but never mind.

Well, here's a quote from one of the characters -

"My own diagnosis of my problem is a simpler one. It's that I share 50% of my genome with a banana and 98 percent with a chimpanzee. Bananas don't do psychological consistency. And the tiny part of us that's different - the special Homo sapiens bit - is faulty. It doesn't work. Sorry about that."

Good quote. I find irony quite hilarious, and others might not I realize.

Yeah, I got that sense. I've researched the specifics of what Wendel was talking about, and what the HMP was actually saying. (I haven't answered this question to my satisfaction yet.) The main issue for me is this statement: To try and figure what "in association" means I've looked at graphs, like this one http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0a/Skin_Microbiome20169-300.jpg, and I can kind of see that it indicates the human flora. I know that there is a symbiotic relationship between some microbiome and us. But I don't know if medical science has identified other microbiome that are not part of the human flora, and will be a part of this research project.

Anyway my point was to provoke some thoughtful discussion about what it means to be a human (Osso hit on this, for which I'm thankful). (I guess there is something to be said for being too obtuse.)

You were being "esoteric" and I had trouble following your metaphor (or whatever it was ). Anyway, I think of microbes as bacteria and was unable to come to the same conclusion that you did.

Your confusion is understandable. I've realized that those who seeks to find truth consequently become esoteric in regards to the greater population. So then being social animals we seek others who understand us, and we can relate to. Unfortunately the segment of the population that meets this requirement gets smaller and smaller until it just becomes you.

Now I'm undecided. I want to quote you for my tag line, but the one I have I like too.

No emails in signatures, pronounce - but you can put it in your profile.

Oh, OK. I hadn't seen that specified.

It's somewhere in the Terms of Service (or was..)

I just checked, and could not find it, but no matter I like your idea better.