Hiding in rough terrain (unsterilized objects) where it’s more cost-effective to wipe them out with fire or poison, attacking targets of opportunity within the body, scattering when opposed rather than taking the harder road to proactively pursue a strategy. Honey can be used as a disinfectant because bacteria gorge themselves on simple sugars until they literally burst, just like an armed encampment can be put off their guard with an oversupply of food and wine.
More generally, I think people can do just fine at modeling living creatures with intelligence equal to or less than their own. The breakdown is with modeling creatures of greater intelligence, who pursue goals that only make sense in hindsight, and cosmic forces which cannot be outwitted or negotiated with because they do not pursue goals at all.
Honey can be used as a disinfectant because bacteria gorge themselves on simple sugars until they literally burst, just like an armed encampment can be put off their guard with an oversupply of food and wine.
Hm… When I asked on Wikipedia, I was told it was in part due to the hygroscopicness of honey: not enough water to support bacterial life.
Honey can be used as a disinfectant because bacteria gorge themselves on simple sugars until they literally burst, just like an armed encampment can be put off their guard with an oversupply of food and wine.
Hm… When I asked on Wikipedia, I was told it was in part due to the hygroscopicness of honey: not enough water to support bacterial life.
These experimental findings on How honey kills bacteria attribute the bulk of the antibacterial action to a specific protein defensin-1 that the bees put into the honey.
And yet, someone who applied honey (or distilled alcohol!) to a festering wound thinking that it would disorient the encamped pathogens and thereby give the body’s defenders an opportunity to rally, without understanding the actual mechanism, could still be successful.
Sorry, but why are these being upvoted? It’s a cute analogy—but this is far from a “model” as was claimed. Try making some predictions from these explanations and see how horribly awry they go: why just honey? I should be shoving waffles into my wounds whenever I get a scratch, since everyone knows waffles are incredibly tasty. This analogy might work to convince an uncooperative child to take his antibiotics or get a shot, but it’s not going to cut it as a useful model. The only reason this is working is that you already know the answers!
Pathogens can be modeled as a miniaturized, undisciplined army to useful effect.
Details?
Hiding in rough terrain (unsterilized objects) where it’s more cost-effective to wipe them out with fire or poison, attacking targets of opportunity within the body, scattering when opposed rather than taking the harder road to proactively pursue a strategy. Honey can be used as a disinfectant because bacteria gorge themselves on simple sugars until they literally burst, just like an armed encampment can be put off their guard with an oversupply of food and wine.
More generally, I think people can do just fine at modeling living creatures with intelligence equal to or less than their own. The breakdown is with modeling creatures of greater intelligence, who pursue goals that only make sense in hindsight, and cosmic forces which cannot be outwitted or negotiated with because they do not pursue goals at all.
Hm… When I asked on Wikipedia, I was told it was in part due to the hygroscopicness of honey: not enough water to support bacterial life.
These experimental findings on How honey kills bacteria attribute the bulk of the antibacterial action to a specific protein defensin-1 that the bees put into the honey.
And yet, someone who applied honey (or distilled alcohol!) to a festering wound thinking that it would disorient the encamped pathogens and thereby give the body’s defenders an opportunity to rally, without understanding the actual mechanism, could still be successful.
Sorry, but why are these being upvoted? It’s a cute analogy—but this is far from a “model” as was claimed. Try making some predictions from these explanations and see how horribly awry they go: why just honey? I should be shoving waffles into my wounds whenever I get a scratch, since everyone knows waffles are incredibly tasty. This analogy might work to convince an uncooperative child to take his antibiotics or get a shot, but it’s not going to cut it as a useful model. The only reason this is working is that you already know the answers!