Are human red blood cells homo sapiens or a separate organism?

Interesting. Let’s hope teletransporters never come into existence!! ;)

Well, you answered it without any philosophical view, neutrons make you You, connections between them save your identity, or you’d have mental problems connected with loosing identity or creating new ones from time to time, which is not as rare as we’d like to.

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I suspect whether or not blood is an organ depends on how organs are defined. Usually they are defined as physical things that perform a specific function. I have never thought of (or been taught) that blood is an organ, but since you bring it up, it actually makes a lot of sense. Blood is as complex as a liver, and performs many specific functions. In a sense, blood could be seen as the first organ! All other organs rely on blood to perform their functions. It’s a very interesting way to look at it. Thank you for making me think.

Usually they are defined as physical things that perform a specific function.

That’s a good summary of the definition of an organ, but usually “physical thing” would generally be understood as a structural unit. Thus the circulatory system (network of blood vessels themselves) and the skin both qualify as organs, while blood would not. Like you say, it all comes down to semantics in the end. There are typically thought to be about 79 organ types in the human body by the generally accepted definition, but that’s interesting really only as trivia for philosophising; for anatomical and medical purposes, the word ‘organ’ only serves a truly useful function in communicating meaning when referring to the clear-cut examples as opposed to the borderline cases.

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Yes, it is mainly about philosophy and semantics, but I sort of like that stuff. It’s possible to see blood vessels as a structure that provides a conduit for a ‘liquid organ’. Communication is basically what it boils down to. I’m in Canada, and have been an ICU nurse. If I had referred to blood as an organ while giving report, no one would have known what I was referring to. I might refer to blood loss, but not refer to it as part of organ failure.
It just challenges the concept of what we consider organs, which is always interesting!

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It is “evidence of” an organism.

Human - Human Red blood cells (RBCs)

So, are you saying that if my neutrons in my cerebral cortex were transplanted into someone else’s brain, and mine were replaced with that person’s, I would then think I was that person? I don’t think so.

M, how do you think you realise that you is you? You need your whole brain as different parts of it are connected. If humanity will learn how to save all the connections (I know now it’s like a small piece in work), it’d be possible to make 10 different you’s, but they will start be different from the point of official “start”. You won’t think you’re another person, your brain will be in another person, your whole body hardly affects that.

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