Lesson 255. Meta-beings.

A meta-being, or colony creature, is a living organism composed of smaller, but individually alive organisms. You are such a being. You are composed of living cells that can remain alive, even when separated from your body. A good example is a heart transplant. The heart donor has died. His or her spirit, soul or mind has left the body but the living tissues and organs may be transplanted, still alive, into another needy person.  This demonstrates that a human being is not one living entity, but a colony of separately living entities, the body's cells, that live in a community. In fact, while all of our body's cells share DNA, there are also the foreign cells, not sharing our DNA, that are required to survive. In fact, when taking antibiotics, we often get sick to our stomach. Doctors will tell you, to avoid that, eat yogurt! Yogurt contains other living organisms that help with digestion and excretion, that are normally in our bodies but antibiotics kill off.

Here are some important considerations regarding what was just stated.  First, the body is a cellular machine.  Second, the cellular machine is inhabited by necessary symbiotic creatures which do not share the same origin and DNA a as the host and body.  Third, this body is like an automobile, or more accurately like a space ship which carries its passage, the soul/mind/spirit through time and space, as a passive.

The human machine is extremely complex.  Someone living multi cellular organism are much less complex.  Some are composed of only one type of cell and may have no consciousness beyond simple instinct.The volvox and pyrosome are also colony creatures, but of a a much simpler form. All cells are identical, taking on their function based upon their physical position within the colony.

Bees are also colony creatures. A beehive or ant hill could be said to be an individual creature with single ants or bees being individual parts of the creature. There is no scientific specification for how close, physically, elements of a colony creature must be! Yet, individuals ants and bees performed very specific functions such as colony protection, food gathering, birthing the young, etc..  Their position within the colony and the role they assume even affects their physical body development.

The primary differentiation between a collection of on related cells and a colony creature or multi cellular being is that there is a permanent differentiation within the colony as to what the individual cells or creatures are to perform.  The colony's continuation and success depends upon each cell or sell colony, were being, performing its function. Failing to do so could result in the death of the colony.

Here is an important fact.  The individual members of a colony creature may or may not be self aware, but certainly are not aware that they are part of a larger living creature.  No doubt, the skin cells on your index finger are completely unaware that they are component of that larger creature, your body.

This raises the next question.  Are all the plants, animals, fungi one celled creature on earth part of, but unaware that they are, a larger organism.  This larger organism is referred to by some as Gaia.  The human could in fact be contributing part, living organs if you will, of the larger Gaia organism.

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End of lesson quiz.

1.  What is the difference between an individual cell and a colony creature?

2.  Name three colony creatures.

3.  How does the physical proximity affect the colony creature?
4. Define Gaia.

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Volvox - daughter cells inside of mother colony / pond water / BF microscope: 500 - 1250x



An extremely rare and terrifying deep sea creature was recently found with an animal trapped inside. What you are looking at is a Pyrosome. 



James Ephraim Lovelock, is an independent scientist, environmentalist and futurist who lives in Dorset, England. He is best known for proposing the Gaia hypothesis, which he discusses in this exclusive interview, filmed in 2007.