DigginDirt said: ...
I have read that there are single-celled colonies (bacterium? alga?) that scientists believe to be millions of years old but I presume this is millions of generations rather than the original cell still being alive and still dividing. If not then I guess I fail to understand the concept that everything eventually dies.
I think that "everything dies" is only true of multi-cellular critters.
The biologists who say that "bacteria are immortal", or any single-celled creatures are immortal are thinking this way:
"When a cell divides, it has not died.
There are two of it now.
Both are "the same
individual", except that there are two of them."
Heinlein pointed out the futility of trying to apply the word "individual" to things that reproduce by division. ("Puppet Masters")
I think it would be more accurate to say that very few single-celled creatures
die of old age. In fact, I'm not aware of anyone referring to the [b]"age" of a bacterium[/u], unless they mean "how many hours have passed since its last cell division", or "how many years have passed since it differentiated enough to be called a different species".
Hence its "age" might be equally well called either "16 hours" or "16 million years". Not a very useful word in that context!
Both "age" and "mortal" are words that apply to multi-cellular creatures.
I think the burden is on whoever re-uses the words to apply to something different, to clearly RE-DEFINE the words in a meaningful way. Instead, writers throw them around recklessly and then pat themselves on the back for discovering a "paradox". Feh!
In my mind, the paradox is calling someone a writer who deliberately uses words in ambiguous and misleading ways.
If they make their living from words, they owe a little respect to the language and clear communication.
DigginDirt, I'm not referring to you when I criticize professional writers for writing whatever sells instead of respecting the language, meaningfulness and accuracy. But glitzy-sounding phrases replicate themselves online like invasive weeds, while the few flowers of Internet accuracy have to fight their ways through a forest of weedy glitz, zazz and puffery.
