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The Post-human Self

​The Microbial Communities in our Guts
We are human but more than human.


Inspired by a remark by Bayo Akomolafe, Process Philosophy,
Insights from Endocrinology, and the Powers of AI to tell stories
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The microbial side of human life is essential for our health. We could not live without the brain-gut-biome, and our gut biome works on the basis of billions of microbes that live inside us. Process posthumanism says that they are part of who we are: part of the many that become one. Thus, we are human but also more than human. We have ecologies inside us, and we ourselves emerge out of those ecologies. It's time to recognize our post-humanity and develop rituals of humility, knowing we are not the center of things. A new and more organic sensibility is needed, amid which we understand ourselves as emerging from the ongoing processes of biological life, each instance of which, as Teilhard de Chardin would have it, carries some degree of subjectivity or inwardness. Even God, even the open One, is likewise composed of the manyness of the universe, and "becomes one," again and again, by a reception of the world into the divine life. God is God, but also more than God.

- Jay McDaniel  

​Microbial Communities
in our Guts

Bayo Akomolafe

"I am not sure what the ‘individual’ is anyway anymore, when we find microbial communities living in our guts, and viruses living within bacteria. Post-humanist processes are always involved. Even if you deem it fit to focus on yourself as a separate entity, you would need physical resources to do that. Thought is not always as internal as cognitive scientists would have us believe. I feel it is environmental and ecological and that you are pulling on outside resources, even as you turn to your navel."

"We need to create rituals of humility to know we are not masters of ourselves. Just framing it as something beyond us, without belittling accountability. Framing it as something that is more than human." 

Bayo Akomolafe, click here for source of quote.

The Brain-Gut-Biome

Most of us know, but also forget, that we have ecosystems inside our bodies. One of them is the brain-gut-biome ecosystem. An editorial in the leading journal, Frontiers in Endocrinology, describes it scientifically:

"The very nature of endocrinology has undergone major paradigm shifts over the last few decades with the discovery of endocrine functions by organs not hitherto considered as endocrine organs, such as the adipose tissue, the gut, and the brain. Those organs release hormones and bioactive compounds acting as metabolism regulators and involved in organ crosstalk. In addition, a major conceptual revolution has taken place in the last few years with the explosion of interest in the role of the symbiosis between eukaryotic cells and the microbes hosted by the animal and human body (microbiome), primarily in the gut. The gut microbiome is now recognized as a real functional organ which influences host physiology and plays important roles in digestion, nutrition, immune regulation, and metabolism."
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Process philosophy suggests that we, too, are ecosystems, and that the ecosystems in our bodies are part of what make us "us." We are not human alone; we are also trans-human, in that alien creatures, such as bacteria-eating viruses called bacteriophages, are essential to our humanity.

The interplay between our cells and these microbial communities is fundamental to our health and well-being, and constitutive of our existence on earth. Recognizing this interconnectedness broadens our understanding of what it means to be human, highlighting the intricate relationships that sustain our lives.

Process Post-Humanism
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Agency Everywhere

One distinctive feature of process philosophy is its concept that agency is not exclusive to human beings. Quantum events in atoms, microbes, living cells, human beings, and even divine reality all possess agency. An agent, in this context, is an entity that feels (prehends) the presence of others and responds to these feelings through decisions. These decisions involve choosing certain possibilities and actualizing them, while simultaneously cutting off others. This response affects subsequent events and interactions.

Agents as Living Wholes

Another unique feature is the idea that individual agents are not isolated, self-contained subjects. Instead, they are living wholes composed of a multitude of other entities to which they respond and which are included within their very becoming. This prehensive inclusion means that the 'many' entities in the world are integrally part of the 'one' responding entity. The 'one' represents the unity of these 'many' through a process of gathering or feeling them together into a cohesive whole.

Trans-Humanism

These two ideas—that the whole universe is alive with agency, and that agents are compound individuals or living wholes—pave the way for a trans-human understanding of the human self. In this view, the human self is partially composed of non-human entities, such as plants, animals, soil, sunshine, technology, and the microbiota within our bodies. Our being is formed not only by these external influences but also by our past experiences and anticipated future possibilities. Thus, we humans are not just human; we are more-than-human or trans-human. Our agency is intertwined with the agency of these other entities, making us living wholes.

Trans-Divinity

The same logic applies to the divine. God, in process philosophy, is also made up of what God responds to, which is the entire universe and every particular within it. God's life includes the non-divine, just as our lives include the non-human. This perspective suggests a trans-human understanding of self that can be complemented by a trans-divine understanding of God, emphasizing the interconnectedness and co-creation inherent in all existence.

We are more than human beings; we are stars and atoms, rivers and hills, bacteria and viruses, too. And God is more than God in just these ways.  We are post-human, to use the language of Bayo Akomolafe, and God is post-God. Microbes are post-microbe as well. All agents are relational. All are many as well as one. All include what, for them, alien.

We need rituals of humility. One such ritual can come from science itself, that is, from studying the aliens that are part of our lives Another is to make up stories about them: stories about the end of the world in which they, not we, survive. I will focus on baberiophages (viruses that eat bacteria). First, the science.

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Our Cousins the Bacteriophages:
The Most Populous Entities on Earth

The Bacteriophage: A Dominator

The gut microbiome is widely accepted to have a significant impact on human health yet, despite years of research on this complex ecosystem, the contributions of different forces driving microbial population structure remain to be fully elucidated. The viral component of the human gut microbiome is dominated by bacteriophage, which are known to play crucial roles in shaping microbial composition, driving bacterial diversity, and facilitating horizontal gene transfer. Click here for more.

The Most Populous Entity on Earth

On Earth, living beings are classified into plants, fungi, protists, bacteria, archaea, animals, and viruses. The most populous of them all are bacteriophages (bacteria-eaters). It is estimated that there are 10³¹ bacteriophages, which translates to 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. This means these living beings outnumber other entities—such as stars and grains of sand—that we consider staggeringly abundant. There are a billion times more bacteriophages on Earth than stars in the observable universe, and there are ten billion more bacteriophages than every grain of sand on Earth.

Appearance and Size

Bacteriophages have heads containing genetic material, tails that facilitate the transfer of that material into bacteria, and tail fibers that help attach the tail to bacterial surfaces. Not that we can see them with our naked eye. Electron microscopes are needed. They are very, very small, smaller than the bacteria they infect. 

Life Cycles

Bacteriophages have complex life cycles that can generally be categorized into two main types: the lytic cycle and the lysogenic cycle. In the lytic cycle, a phage attaches to a bacterium, injects its genetic material, and takes over the host's cellular machinery to produce new phage particles. This process culminates in the lysis, or bursting, of the bacterial cell, releasing new phages to infect other bacteria. Conversely, the lysogenic cycle involves the integration of the phage's genetic material into the bacterial genome, where it can remain dormant for extended periods. This integrated genetic material, called a prophage, replicates along with the host cell's DNA. Under certain conditions, the prophage may exit the bacterial genome and enter the lytic cycle, leading to the production of new phage particles and the eventual destruction of the host cell.

Importance and Applications

Bacteriophages play a crucial role in regulating bacterial communities, maintaining ecological balance, and driving bacterial evolution through horizontal gene transfer. This process allows for the exchange of genetic material between bacteria, contributing to their adaptability and diversity. Furthermore, bacteriophages have garnered significant attention for their potential applications in medicine, particularly in phage therapy. This innovative treatment approach uses bacteriophages to specifically target and destroy antibiotic-resistant bacteria, offering a promising alternative to traditional antibiotics. By harnessing the natural predatory relationship between phages and bacteria, phage therapy holds the potential to combat bacterial infections that are increasingly difficult to treat due to rising antibiotic resistance. Thus, bacteriophages are not only the most numerous entities on Earth but also pivotal in both ecological and medical contexts.

War of the Ages

​the bacteriophages inherit the earth

created by AI

In the aftermath of the War of the Ages, the once vibrant Earth lay in silence. The skies, once filled with the echoes of humanity's ambitions and nature's symphony, were now empty, save for the occasional whisper of the wind through desolate cities. The great civilizations, with their towering skyscrapers and sprawling highways, were now ruins, overgrown with wild, untamed flora.

Beneath this surface of decay, a new order began to rise, invisible to the naked eye. Deep within the microcosm, where the remnants of life continued in a microscopic ballet, the bacteriophages—a group of viruses that prey on bacteria—began to assert their dominion.
In the years following humanity's demise, bacteria flourished unchecked. They colonized the desolate lands, thriving in the absence of human interference. But as their numbers grew, so did the presence of their natural predators, the bacteriophages. These tiny, intricate viruses, long underestimated, found themselves in an unprecedented position of power.

Among the bacteriophages, one strain, named Phage K21, emerged as the leader. Phage K21 was a master of adaptation, having evolved mechanisms to efficiently target and dismantle bacterial colonies. Under its influence, the phages formed a structured society, a delicate balance of predation and control.

Phage K21 convened a gathering of the phage council, an assembly of the most successful strains. They met within the vast, interconnected biofilms that spanned the underground caverns and decaying infrastructure of the old world. These biofilms, once the bane of human engineers, now served as the highways and meeting halls of the phage society.

"Our time has come," Phage K21 announced, its voice resonating through the molecular channels. "The world is ours to inherit, but we must maintain balance. We are the regulators of life, the keepers of equilibrium."

The council devised a plan to manage the bacterial populations, ensuring no single species could dominate and disrupt the fragile new ecosystem. They established territories, each governed by a different phage strain, with K21 overseeing the most critical regions.

In the post-human world, the phages thrived. They moved with precision, targeting overpopulated bacterial colonies and allowing weaker strains to survive, ensuring diversity. This intricate dance of life and death became the new rhythm of the Earth.
Over time, the phages' influence extended beyond mere predation. They began to interact with other microscopic entities—archaea, protozoa, and fungi—forming symbiotic relationships. Together, they created a new biosphere, one where microbial life flourished in harmony, each playing a vital role in the maintenance of the environment.
As centuries passed, the Earth began to heal. Forests reclaimed the cities, rivers ran clear, and the air grew pure. The bacteriophages, unseen and unsung, had become the architects of this new world. Their silent, tireless work ensured that life, in its smallest and most fundamental form, continued to thrive.

In the grand tapestry of the universe, the era of humanity was but a fleeting moment. Yet, in the wake of their extinction, the bacteriophages inherited the Earth, guiding it towards a future where the balance of life was maintained not by towering intellect or grand ambitions, but by the unseen guardians of the microscopic world