No, oxygen is not just electrons, and we cannot survive on just oxygen and light

Context

An Instagram video that has garnered over two thousand views claims that our lungs are a vacuum for electrons. The video also claims that electrons are equivalent to the oxygen we breathe, and we just need oxygen and sunlight to survive without food or water.

However, this is false. 

In fact

Our lungs are the central entity of our respiratory system. They are responsible for transporting oxygen from the air we breathe around the body via the blood. By definition, a vacuum is a space entirely devoid of matter, not even air. Therefore, the claim that lungs are a vacuum is incorrect, as they take in our gaseous air and transport the oxygen around the body.

 
How lungs work. (Source: Healthwise)

The post claims that oxygen is equivalent to electrons, but electrons and oxygen are fundamentally different and have distinct roles in chemistry and physics. Electrons are subatomic particles with a negative charge, occupying specific energy levels around the nucleus of an atom. They play a crucial role in chemical bonding and the flow of electric current.

Oxygen is an element represented by the symbol O and atomic number 8. It consists of protons, neutrons, and electrons. Oxygen atoms can bond to form O2 molecules, a diatomic gas essential for respiration in many organisms. It makes up about a fifth of the air we breathe, such that our atmosphere is a combination of oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and trace amounts of other gases. The air we breathe is vital for survival, as it is needed for cell respiration. In this instance, the video is correct that we need oxygen to survive.

However, they are not equivalent to each other. While electrons are the components in forming bonds and reactions, oxygen is a distinct element that participates in these processes as a whole atom or molecule. In essence, electrons are parts of atoms and molecules, whereas oxygen is a specific type of atom with unique properties and functions.

Can we survive on sunlight?

Photons are the packets of energy that make up electromagnetic energy. These massless elementary particles travel at the speed of light and interact with matter depending on their moving energy and the matter's composition. The human body can see photons in visible light, as our eyes are perfectly designed to detect them. Our skin interacts with light, too, absorbing, transmitting, scattering, or reflecting it. Subjecting our bodies to natural light has many health benefits, including boosting vitamin D and improving sleep. 

However, contrary to the post's claim, light does not provide the multifaceted nutritional and physiological requirements for survival. Human cells depend on complex biochemical processes that require food consumption and digestion, nutrient conversion into energy through cellular respiration, and elimination of waste products. While plants can convert photons into energy through photosynthesis, humans do not possess the necessary cellular machinery to harness light energy directly, such as chloroplasts and chlorophyll.

What do humans need to survive?

Human needs have been vastly studied. Food, water, air, and shelter are the most basic requirements for human life, without which we would not be able to live. 

Human survival is intrinsically linked to the body's physiological needs, particularly our requirements for food and water. These sustain homeostasis, facilitate cellular processes, and ensure the proper function of organs. Without water, dehydration quickly sets in, impairing essential bodily functions such as temperature regulation, waste elimination, and nutrient transport. 

Severe dehydration can lead to kidney failure, confusion, and ultimately death, typically within three to four days. Food provides the body with nutrients and energy to sustain metabolic processes. While the body can rely on stored energy reserves (fat and muscle tissue) during periods of starvation, this only works for a limited time. After about three weeks without food, the body's energy reserves become critically depleted, leading to severe muscle wasting, weakened immune function, and organ failure.

Without both water and food, the stresses on the human body accelerate its decline and become fatal at about the four-day mark.

The verdict

Lungs are not a vacuum. Humans cannot survive without food, water, and the air we breathe for nutrients and cell respiration. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.