Im a bit upset after finding out the answer to something a science teacher asked

25 years ago, I was but a simple high school student. My Science teacher asked a question:

"What is something that has the traits of a living thing, but is not alive".

He said that only a few of his students ever figured this out, and it took them years.

I pondered hard about this. I thought right away it was Viruses, but that wasn't the answer. thought more, came up with more ideas, but they were not answers.

Time passed. I graduated, and moved on with my life. that question remained in the back of my head though.

I thought maybe it was something more abstract. After 10 years, I eventually came up as the concept of "civilization" as an answer. I reached out to him, and it was not the correct answer.

I shelved the question for a while, but it still kept coming up. Eventually AI came about, and I got several more good ideas, and a bunch I had already thought of. now, 22 years after I was originally asked, I reached out to him again. Guy is over 90 now, and probably doesn't have a lot of life left in him.

I presented a few more ideas to him, and asked him for a hint. My ideas were wrong, and he decided to just tell me what he had in mind. He said that there was a solid substance when introduced with a liquid, i behaved like it was alive. I did a little more research and found out he was referring to camphor and its reaction to water.

Here's a cute little video: https://youtube.com/shorts/LK1IFANMGmY?si=9Y41Y38Ue83g2rKr

I admit it's neat, but I was expecting something a little deeper and potentially meaningful, and not an elementary school science experiment.

At that point, I would have taken it to my grave if I were him.

wtf is this topic

Virus is a more acceptable answer than whatever he was referring to.

we_dey posted...

wtf is this topic

It's the spirit of humanity on full and unashamed display, I loved TC's story that they shared with us.

Is this just a story to get us to watch a youtube video? I see right through you.

My high school science teacher liked to toss bits of sodium into a bucket of water. He also liked to tape two paper plates together to make a frisbee, stick a firecracker inside, and toss it into random classrooms.

CarefreeDude posted...

"What is something that has the traits of a living thing, but is not alive".

fire.

it breathes, eats, reproduces, produces waste, and eventually dies.

Questionmarktarius posted...

fire.

it breathes, eats, reproduces, produces waste, and eventually dies.

Fire was like one of the first things I came up with back when i was in high school. IMO its a better answer

I thought of story, stories live, die, evolve, consume, are consumed, etc.

A dead but formerly alive thing

Whatever Google tells me would have been my answer.

we_dey posted...

wtf is this topic

A real life teacher reminds me why my favorite Batman villain as a youngster was The Riddler.

Revelation34 posted...

Whatever Google tells me would have been my answer.

Figures