Why do we refer to life on this planet as carbon based?

Carbon chains form sugars, which seem to be a fairly easy way to both contain extractable energy, on a cellular level. Glucose is C6H12O6. Hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon. A great way to ensure that it doesn't burn out of control, but still has accessible energy for a lifeform.

Sugars being made this way ensures that life needs to be compatible with this type of energy source. But when sugar gets too hot, for example if global warming has occurred in the past (even millions of years ago), then that heat would indeed cause problems, such as the need for water.

In hot climates, even merely heat stroke, which likely happens with animals and plants too, can cause mass harm with no upper limit for how much death can occur if things get hot enough.

This is why deserts can form just due to the plants being drained of water, or temperatures being too hot to support consistent rainfall. However, evolution does not stop, and thus we will still find life in the desert, and I'm sure that over time, desert can change back to forest, once it has a layer of good soil caused from the breakdown of lifeforms over time.

How does that carbon become life and build plants, animals, insects, etc.?

I think it must first become proteins, which can be seen to naturally occur. For example, without even considering nitrogen, just the fact that carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen are used to make simple sugars is enough to ensure that once more elements are added, such as in those deep sea "origin of life" smoke areas, that constantly spew forth both heat and material, I think the cooler sediment around that might be covered in burnt up material from the Earth's insides, which must surely be delicious to certain lifeforms.

But to answer your question more specifically, I think that it is genetic code that builds a cell, and that cell, being connected to the nerve connections and other connective tissues that form a multicellular lifeform, that cell must surely be great friends with the other cells around it, and all agree on which way the cells should be build in order to form a body plan, which was basically crafted to survive at any cost. The only difference was how it should do that. Wings, claws, teeth, fur, intelligence.

All of those and more give a lifeform powerful abilities that are nearly beyond comprehension if you had never seen life before. Running, flying, swimming, and all the methods to do this, such as how a squid will intake water, and then literally shoot it out like a jet to propel itself is just crazy. But mix into that the existence of a gland that can output thick, dark ink in order to cover its trail, and that's just about impossible to believe unless you had seen it.

And even if you see it, to understand what it's actually doing, as a human, is very tough, I figure. I mean, we cannot really imagine breathing really hard to try to propel ourselves. Instead, we use that same sort of lung technology to speak, just as a bat uses sonar.

What if two important things to that process are Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Oxygen?

I'm just answering your questions one at a time, so that you bring up elements after I extensively wrote about them is pretty cool. And yes, if those two things are important, then it is necessary that we as all life on Earth, continue the cycle of life, with the added knowledge of evolution being a buffer against extinction. We exist to survive at any cost, because the simple act of life itself, simply living, is worth it. That is the legend passed down from billions of generations of our ancestors, all the way to the first lifeform, no matter how simple. It had a will to live, and that enabled everything after.

What if eating other life forms begins to be viewed as bad?

I truly believe that many people view themselves as inherently unnecessary. They might be nihilistic, or otherwise somehow unable to think that they deserve life. They might not even feel or appear suicidal. They might just not feel like they are worth anything. Maybe they are truly bad, and they know it, or maybe they're just sad or whatever. Either way, when this mindset happens, you have to understand the absolute.

THE ABSOLUTE:

YOU MUST KILL TO LIVE.
ARE YOU TRULY WORTH THE LIFE OF ANOTHER?

This is so gravely close to the line of absolute truth, that anyone who wavers in their faith that they as an entity, are worthy of life, will surely begin to question eating. Even if they are intelligent to the point of a human, and able to easily find food without problem, even if it's cheap, it's hard to "starve" these days, they might still begin to question eating, on the deepest, instinctive philosophical level.

Apoptosis for humans.

If not your family or friends helping you, there are governments who will. And of course, you could still have a job and still feel as if your existence has no meaning, I'm sure.

If you feel like humanity is bad, or that you are bad, it can become tough to want to eat. How can you kill something in order for you to survive? By killing another lifeform, no matter if plant or animal, you are making the absolute statement: This is necessary for my survival.

And thus all life is in this game and there is no way out other than death. You know the rules, and so do I.

Maybe a fruit is a kind gift from a tree. "Here, eat this and poop out the seeds. That's the deal. Don't cut me down or something rude. Just eat this fruit I freely offer, and you know what to do with the seeds." Said the tree.

Isn't that the statement a tree makes? But what about meat? Tsk, perhaps a cow is an example. "Keep me alive and you get milk." But that's not very fun, huh? Not when there are certain nutrients found in meat that we need more more than the cow needs to live.

This is how much of the world sees things, and I am not in a position to question them as if I was so darn right and they were so darn wrong. People just love to eat meat, and the added nutrition is incredible.

We need the beef, don't we? Otherwise we have to go all sorts of directions to get the nutrition elsewhere. I'm not about to turn vegan, because then what has to die instead? It's the will to live that defines life. Not "brains or bronze." Killing a plant is killing something with a will to live. I don't believe that veganism is rooted in a true manner of living. When we are hungry and there are no edible plants, veganism will fail. Disasters, apocalypse, plague, drought, famine; when the time comes, either you will survive or you will not, and there is no limit to what you can do to survive.

What we can do is still be kind to animals and have empathy for them, and see them as part of our journey through time and space. There may be cybernetic cows someday. Yup. I just went there hahah but I know you will too, so let me go on to your next question.

What if the answer is to only eat plant life?

I think eating only plant life would be very difficult for us as humans. Who are you suggesting eat only plants?

In many places, we require goats or cows to graze the sparse prairies or meadows, because nothing tasty will grow there. Either it's wheat/corn, or it's the natural plants that grow, and which the goats love most.

They will live their life eating and having fun; we will give them a life worth living on the open meadows and prairies, and in turn, they will not die of starvation or disease or being hunted and eaten by wolves. No, I advocate for methods that are considerably more humane than a wolf goring. And then we eat them.

That's one ideal, at least. Realistically, we only have to know what really goes on at mass commercial farms to shrug and wonder if that's how things should be. Tsk.

But as to your question, I think your "only" is my issue with it. I would much prefer to eat lots of plants, but not only plants. Mushrooms are not plants, by the way, and I will die on that hill. =p

What if the push becomes to remove carbon from the atmosphere and CO2 is often the thing most talked about?

I think that the only way we would be able to "remove carbon" would be to utilize plants to do it. If there was a way to mass produce nutrient dense humus, even better than fertilizer chemical, but actual fertile soil that was pure, healthy, and mostly natural, as if produced from a certain type of bacteria that just grows off cheap nutrient sugar, but turns into soil, then that would be wonderful.

What happens to plant life as CO2 levels plummet?

I think that there would be more plants because they are the only viable way to cause CO2 levels to drop.

If not plants on land, then undersea algae and things like that. I don't think there could ever be a viable machine that could be built that would reduce carbon. If someone invented nanobots that simply ate all carbon and turned it into some sort of disgusting plastic that drops to earth, but inert and unusable for life, then ... well, that would be the end, huh?

The lowest realistic carbon point would occur if the entire Earth, all of it, was completely covered in deep, dense forest and jungle.

What happens to those against eating meat when there are no plants?

Well, animals need to eat plants to live. So if the plants are gone, then so are the animals. I think we need plants, so I think all sane nations will go to absolute war against any other state that threatens to use a forced-climate-change nanobot that would permanently alter the entire atmosphere. This was one of those extreme fears we had with the ozone layer. An artificial molecule was created and when put into the atmosphere would bond with ozone in a way that could cause a cascading chain reaction, destroying all the ozone. That would be a disaster, and that was a mere accident.

But if we were to deliberately create a thick, hazy vapor that would bond with all carbon and simply turn it into heavy plastic that rains down to the earth and oceans, just to completely rid the Earth of carbon, I think that the entire Earth would probably end up literally burning with fire in every direction. Everything. All carbon-based mass and matter would burn.

It would be literally hell, and we would die from the burning of our flesh just from breathing in the raw oxygenated fire air. Maybe nitrogen will save us from this, technically, but I sure as heck don't want to live in a world with zero CO2.

No, I would recommend you check with a real scientist before expecting actual fire, but to be honest, I am positive that if this was done, the result would still end in absolute extinction of all multicellular life. Maybe a few deep cave insects will be fine, but still. This is not a good thing. Let's not use any artificial means to reduce carbon in this way.

What do plants do for us besides provide food?

They protect us from wind and storms when our village or house is surrounded, they keep the soil in place, preventing erosion. Right beneath soil is dead rock. Real soil is a product of life. Below that, is non-living rock, and so good roots are what keep things from turning to desert or tundra. And when millions of years of plants build up, it forms the most nutritious and delicious soil, giving rise to what would surely be the most delectable fruits.

How does non-plant life exist without Oxygen?

It would have to simply not require oxygen. Generally more common in bacteria, but I suppose fish wouldn't mind. Well, except fish do indeed still like oxygen. They just breathe it differently.

Wouldn't removing CO2 lead to a catastrophic end to carbon based organic life?

If not by fire, then by burning us up inside with each breath. I wouldn't be surprised if we age three times faster if we only breathed oxygen. And I mean young adult to elderly type aging, where you just wear down so much faster and harsher, and it'd be so easy to overheat.

What if the Carbon Dioxide levels are actually near the lowest they have been in the history of the Earth?

I don't think there is any problem at all with the carbon dioxide levels, but people still want the Earth to be cooler. Who? Well, look at a colored globe or map, and where you see green, that's where it's fine for it to be as it is. Where you see gray and blue, that's where they want it warmer. Tundra. And where you see tan and brown, that's where they want it cooler. Desert.

That's how I figure it. But there are quite likely insane megalomaniacs who actually want to try to "bring their people the sun" or otherwise control the climate and weather on Earth, as if they were gods. Very strange mindset, and I've heard it before too. I was talking to a Russian person who was absolutely convinced that global warming is happening, and shouldn't be stopped, because it would make much more Russian land available for farming. Agendas everywhere, it seems.

But at the same time, I have driven past those big cities, and the stench of the pollution is sick. Being in the city is foul. Such horrible air. Each breath is filled with such nasty fumes.

I've driven past the oil refineries, and it was raining once. My windshield became greasy and slimy, and I wasn't able to see. It was completely oily just from the air around me. But on sunny days, I just see endless stinking smoke rising from the factory, to go into the air. Isn't that what the fight against global warming used to be about?

I can support installing scrubbers and things to simplify the output molecules and make them easier for nature to reincorporate, but at the same time, I hear such weird things sometimes. My shampoo bottle says "Certified CarbonFree by the CarbonFund!"

But that's impossible, obviously. Mathematically, it is not carbon free. The chemical inside, the shampoo? It literally has carbon. The plastic bottle? Carbon. And shaping it at the factory? Probably made smoke or something. Carbon.

This is a factory made product, and is not carbon free. Are they saying that by killing a man and then giving birth, you've undone murder? Because that's not how it works. You cannot pay money to someone and then consider your "carbon" to be neutralized. But I see that all the time, and I figure that's how it works. They just pay money to someone and get to call themselves environmentally friendly.

Anyone talking about "Carbon Free" in this bullshit way with these bullshit terms these days looks like a paid shill or something fishy. No one can be stupid enough to be playing around this deep in propaganda and still be a person with a sane mind. At least just talk about how to keep your environment clean and ease up on the pollution and trash. Trying to rely more on nature and less on industrial plastic consumer garbage might be a better idea than buying into yet another political agenda.

But I see it on garbage factory made consumer products all the time, and they're all just playing people for the fools they are. Either don't make factory garbage and be actually "carbon free," or stop lying. Tsk.

What do you an other non-plant life forms exhale (breathe out)? (answer: CO2)

CO2

If they tax you for carbon wouldn't that be taxing you for life?

Who's they? One of your friends? My friends? I don't know that person.

I don't approve of "them" taxing me. I don't know who they are and they don't mean anything to me. They will do things with my money that I inherently disagree with because I don't want to know these strangers. They will never be my friend. They will never visit with me as an acquaintance. They will never care about me or my life. They are a stranger and they have no business in my life.

And anyways, they already tax you for life. =p

Whom are you paying that to?

Them.

Why do they have that authority?

They don't. But they have the capacity for violence and will use it to make unjustified demands.

The question that will light up your world is this; Why don't YOU have that authority? All authority. The authority to make law. To enforce law. To choose which religions and beliefs get acknowledged and respected. To choose which beliefs don't.

Why them and not you? Ask yourself that every day about every issue like this.

Why them and not you?

With those taxes are they building themselves domed or underground greenhouses full of CO2 and Oxygen while the rest of us die off?

I don't know, but I figure that they have enough money that they would not mind doing whatever it takes to survive. Just as many do not mind killing a cow for meat, why should some people mind if other people have to die? Oh how outlandish, you might say. Nah. War is that, but even more overtly violent and horrible.

This is normal. People in the position of power treat war as a natural game to play and human lives are cheap. It's just a power game and they win every time.

What better trick of a Devil than to convince a population to pay to die?

The devil himself is ashamed of what we as people have done with ourselves, I figure.
I mean, if in the myth, the devil merely rebelled against an authority, then that just barely fazes me compared to what I know humans are capable of. "Hey human, eat that forbidden fruit just to disobey heheh." munch "Hehe oh no, now you realize you're naked! grossssss lol!" said the snake.

Yeah, that's not the same as what humans have done.

If you are now an atheist do you perchance treat certain other humans as the infallible priests you listen to?

No, I'm quite an atheist, but I clearly realize that humans have an organ in their brain called "OBEY MY MASTER" and people are compelled to obey something or someone. People just so often have an intense longing for something powerful to orbit around. Religions, politics, societal movements, and anything else that makes them feel safe, secure, powerful, or just gives them a sense of what they should do in life.

Some atheists toss away one god for another. But let's read between the lines and go full meta:

Toss away all gods and don't look back.

Are you truly atheist or have you simply chosen certain agencies as those you worship without question?

Yeah, the sense of believing in a god in this sort of reality feels naive.

I think there are certain feelings we have, but the sensation is the same. When we look at a beautiful sunrise. The vastness of the ocean. Surrounded by a living forest. Being at peace in the sunshine in a flowery meadow.

Or perhaps we can build something out of wood or stone, a huge building, and carve it into art, and call it a church, and honor the same feeling. But of course, this feeling was never god.

It was the sunrise, the ocean, the individual animals and plants in the forest. It was art. We are not looking at gods here. We are looking at life and reality. Calling it a god feels like a trick. It doesn't make any sense, and I know a lot of people disagree, but on the other hand, I don't think the opinions of people matter very much.

Truth matters.

I think we need to just look around us and realize what we are standing on, and what we are. We are such interesting lifeforms, on such an interesting planet. But gods are not something that feel real to me.

However, you likely mean the common agencies that people worship. Government. Social movement. Religion. Abstract ideas of God. People believe in all manner of structures and entities. Uniforms, badges, big hats, thick old books. In the end, where am I seeing these things? The minds of people.

Then it's fantasy. Let me see the truth of nature. Then I will make my decision.

True life does not exist as gods. It exists as birds, deer, squirrels, rabbits, and apple trees, poison ivy, scorpions, mosquitoes, and all else. This is what is real and that is what is true. And when you see what they do, you will see how the intertwining of life makes perfect sense every time, and each question can be answered, as long as you don't mind the fatal harshness of evolution.

On the other hand, talking about things like government, religion, god, social movements, ethics, and all of those things almost instantly, I feel as if I'm a fool for even discussing it with someone who doesn't already agree with me. These ideas are inherently false, due to their subjective nature.

But I'm sure most people can't handle a tough thought like that one.

How often do you hold a mirror up to your mind?

I smile every day I look in the mirror. But as for my mind, I am always thinking. Hold a mirror to the mirror to the mirror of your mind; a resonance of mind. In the end, we are our brain and body combined, and we need each other too, I often find. A person who does not contact the outside world often will not know the current memetics, and when they hear another person begin speaking a memetic virus instead of a true, authentic, original thought, it will sound completely insane.

Like if I was to hand you a jar full of thick brown liquid and tell you that you should drink it because it contains the essence of god. Would you drink it? Or maybe it's a glass wine, but I call it the blood of a half-god. Yeah, that one. It kinda seems like everyone has a little bubble around them. But can you see your own bubble?

Pop!

That's perhaps why "god" seems like such a far-away idea for me. I don't really come in contact with those ideas, but I am in contact with nature a lot, so I can only say what I see.

Do you think you are going to get a robotic body?

Yeah, of course. I think within the next five years it'll be possible, and in seven years, I'll get the gen 2 model for myself. I'm already saving all my money for this!

Hah, don't worry I'm only joking. I'm sure that this sort of idea can become possible, but I wouldn't be surprised if brains in jar-bodies were intensely depressed, manic, or halfway comatose due to missing all of the vital organs and hormones of the body. Or what, do we just ...move the entire inner organ system into the robot? Like ....

I don't know. This sort of thing is sci-fi, and certainly not for anyone but the richest and most medically desperate to buy.

Perhaps if you have a robotic body you think CO2 won't matter. Oxygen at low levels might be good to you as it would reduce oxidation.

I know some people who love the idea of being uploaded into a robot. Either as a supercomputer hivemind, or just to become an immortal virtual reality god. Either way, it's scifi. I don't think those people should utilize their robot fantasies in forming political opinions, unless they can be realistic and grounded about it. I mean, there is no reason to pretend like crazy levels of progress can't happen.

Artists are going crazy over the new art creation AIs that exist. I mean, the art is good, so it's tough to say it's merely bad and soulless. You can't really tell the difference if you were to look at random paintings, some real, and some AI generated. You might even prefer the AI generated ones. And this makes real artists just soooooo mad that it's almost fun to laugh at them, considering they're being replaced by the same machines that ruined all other old-time jobs, like shoemaking, leather-working, blacksmithing, and all that. Industry.

In other words, welcome to the club, artists. This is just how it is, and whining won't put the cat back into the bag. Same with robot bodies. If they actually work and give us a happy immortal existence filled with energy and creative thoughts and all the normal aspects of life and love, then is there a problem? Probably not.

But ...

What if that robotic body is nowhere close and it is just part of the con for your suicide?

Surely people won't buy into this. Actually expecting a machine intelligence simulation reality or a robot body is pretty farfetched. I don't think I would put my chips on that, at least in my lifetime.

Or what, is this a GPT AI machine-learning voice-output software that is mass-produced, installed into robots, given a file full of your data, and then they liquefy your brain and bury you? They can fool your family with this fake robot that speaks and acts just like you, and it's even more polite.

Those are my answers to your questions. I hope you enjoy them!