Hacker News Reader

Same ways cells know how to be anything - DNA.

this is like saying "same way cells know how to be anything - quantum electrodynamics"

It’s not like that, in that electrodynamics is not a unique property of cells.

But it could still be a useful answer depending on the viewpoint of the person asking and what they were hoping to learn.

Why is it the way it is? God knows.

The only difference is today's biologists have replaced God with DNA - the almighty molecule that knows everything about humans.