Many philosophers use issues like computer viruses to question what life really is. there are many similarities between a computer virus and a human virus. a computer virus can spread from computer to computer, just as the flu, for instance, can spread from person to person. A computer virus can lie in a computer without being active, just as a person can have a virus and not be aware of it.

A human virus is a string of coded information surrounded by proteins. A computer virus is also coded information, stored by electricity. The difference even become smaller when we consider that proteins are made up of atoms, which are electrically charged.Philosophers argue that life can be defined as information passing itself on. A computer virus is information that reproduces itself. Humans reproduce themselves via information stored in their genes.