Biological Self-Replicators
This is a picture of a pot of lettuces first sprouting a few days after my girlfriend fiancée planted them (that girlfriend/fiancée thing is going to take some getting used to). I had never kept living things in my home before. They bring dirt and harbor insects and require maintenance. But she enjoys growing things, so I’ve learned to cope. I was amazed by how quickly they took over their environment. In just a few days they had gone from seeds nearly too small to see to this invasive colony of growing organisms.
Honestly, I was borderline horrified. These were non-conscious replication machines that drew material from the world around them and broke it down into raw materials simply to make more copies of themselves. It was a mindless consuming horde, a green Grey Goo with no notion of what it was destroying. It was a virus. Extrapolating their rate of growth from what had already been observed, in no more than a few years the entire world would be taken over by ravenous greenery.
All this flashed through my mind in maybe a second before I realized that this isn’t just a viral phenomenon – this is what all life is. I’m getting my knickers in a twist over nothing. I can look outside to see that this green has already taken over the world, and it ain’t so bad. But it was still a very eerie feeling, and left me uncomfortable for several days. Then something happened…
My fiancée overwatered them, and more than 90% of them died. Huge relief! These bastards aren’t so tough, we can wipe them out just by accidentally giving them too much of what they need! BWA HAHAHAHA! Come at me, lettuce-bro! I am human, and I own this planet for a reason! You get out of control and we will put you down!
That joy lasted for only a day before I realized the even-more-terrifying implications…
(continued in the next post)
Editted: Original picture found and added!