He's not right, but he's not wrong. There is no solution in complaining about it, only in doing something about it - and often, that's harder than it looks.

Even so, you'll make infinitely more of a difference if you do than if you complain.

People are kind of lazy. They want to push conflict back to the point where it's inevitable, and they "have to," rather than making the changes that need to be done now - mostly inside their own hearts. ..not that they can help it - you are who you are until you change, and what it takes to change is different for each person.

Legend.

Yes, but there's no 'proven' absolute minimum.

It also depends on what you want the thing to do, and what you call life. If you're just saying 'reproduction in an optimal environment', then the code could be pretty small if placed in a bath of ideal organic molecules.

That said, 1700 base pairs is pretty damned small, and a living environment (with all of its own mechanisms of production) probably is the most optimal environment.

Basically the plans for a virus vs that for bacteria are orders of magnitude in different complexity.

Virus: must have keys to a factory and plans that work in that factory to make more virii.

Bacteria: Must have plans for the entire factory.

This combination is where it's at.

Read: rise above the tendency to control the government and law to reflect your version of 'right', and settle for the bits that are either universally agreeable. Then work with others to provide the services you wish to see in the world, without forcing them down others' throats.

This is brilliant turnabout. Well played.

Dig and bottle jack, then push it a tad too far the other way (but still within the realm of what works for your gate). Then brace low with 4x4s, remove bottle jack and make sure it has stopped settling before you pour the concrete. Maybe throw some rebar in there, it's cheap.

Mortar and concrete are fine for compression, but the makers may only have put rebar in the far side of that (if any). That means pushing on it might cause it to separate. That's why you should dig and bottle jack.

..just another feeling.

I'm sure that the mockery was incredibly helpful in resolving the division.

Remember they term 'divide and conquer'?

Your nation is divided, and you're helping to cause that - but you can't even see the conquerors.

Although open source isn't a panacea, couple it with trustless ledgers, and the more parties distrust each other, the more nodes they (and nonpartisans) will run. ..and that's nearly a panacea.

..and, what about trustless ledgers? This is probably the safest direction to be heading.

If you're gonna go out, go out in a blaze of.. well.. not glory, but.. ..something.

That was pretty rude. It's almost as though you didn't try, and so you failed.