# Human as a system

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-as-a-system/712748>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 15, 2015, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-as-a-system/712748 "2015-02-15T21:07:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![MaverocK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@MaverocK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaverocK)\
**Post date:** [February 15, 2015, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-as-a-system/712748/1 "2015-02-15T21:07:32Z")

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If we consider human as a system, the outputs would be food and information (also knowledge/wisdom and data).  
But what would be the outputs? Civilization? Another human(infant)? More information?

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**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-as-a-system/712748/2 "2015-02-16T00:47:58Z")

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I think you meant to say the \*inputs \*would be food and information. The outputs would be modified food, AKA poop and modified information. And a bunch of waste heat.

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**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-as-a-system/712748/3 "2015-02-16T01:18:01Z")

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We turn sunlight into death. Give us food, we breed, eat and exploit everything to breed some more, sail to other lands to kill and breed some more, and then we try to fly to other planets to exploit and breed some more. We’re factory animals, somewhat good at exhausting resource pools and then dying and leaving nothing of much value behind, except big rocks and stories important only to others of our kind.

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**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-as-a-system/712748/4 "2015-02-16T02:04:34Z")

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What about love? How do you measure the output of love? Is that “information”?

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**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-as-a-system/712748/5 "2015-02-16T05:56:08Z")

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> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> I think you meant to say the \*inputs \*would be food and information. The outputs would be modified food, AKA poop and modified information. And a bunch of waste heat.

Also, obviously: Input O[sub]2[/sub] and output CO[sub]2[/sub], [the wheel, New York, wars and so on](http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/811-for-instance-on-the-planet-earth-man-had-always-assumed).