[ndsipa_pomu]

> Pretty sure anyone who knows anything about viruses would say they are alive

Whilst I don't doubt that, viruses don't abide by typical definitions of life that would include self-replication. Obviously, they do replicate, but not by themselves.

[Izkata]

I thought "has a metabolism" (consumes food and produces waste) was the one viruses didn't fit with.

[ndsipa_pomu]

That as well. They also don't respond to their environment.

[btilly]

Men like me also don't replicate by ourselves. Does that mean that we are not alive?

[ndsipa_pomu]

Humans though, can create more humans, but viruses can't create more viruses without using the machinery within a cell that it compromises.