Think of it like a parts manual in the glove-box of a car. To say the car exists to move the manual from place to place would be an absurd summary of the car.
What do you think a virus is buddy? It’s literally just genetic material propagating itself without the need for a body. Your car analogy doesn’t stand. Scientists don’t even consider viruses to be alive in the traditional sense but they still spread regardless. You and I are just a different way to spread that same demonic molecule. You are a flesh puppet for a entity that isn’t even intelligent enough to be considered alive. It goes on “living” but you and I die; the game was rigged from the start.
This isn’t a question of semantic language, it’s an attempt to overturn the popular idea that “My DNA is myself.”
You are not DNA, you are a by-product to ensure the survival and propagation of your DNA. If DNA could spread more efficiently without you, it would do so. The only difference between a virus, essentially just rogue DNA/RNA, and a human being is a question of strategy. You and your DNA are separate entities.
The analogy works fine. A virus cannot propagate in a vacuum, it does need a body. Specifically the body of a compatible cell.
Imagine acknowledging that DNA has the same relationship to a human as a virus does to a cell and then thinking that’s a good thing.
What does it mean when the body is entirely secondary to the propagation of a molecule? A virus destroys the cell without regard because it’s only “goal” is to spread itself regardless of whether or not its beneficial to the cell. The only difference between a virus and your DNA is a question of strategy.
