Humans and our machines have always been separated by a language barrier of sorts. Machines and gadgets use electrons (negatively charged particles) to send information and commands through their circuitry–turn on, turn off, increase volume, and so on. But living creatures use protons (positively charged particles) or ions (charged atoms) to send signals within our bodies and drive actions like flexing muscles or pumping molecules in and out of cells.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=106695