erraticwisdom

Comments

1. Ummmm…is this a philosophical or biological question?
   
   If it is biological, than what you named are the characteristics of what scientists define as life…
   
   If it is philosophical, then…ah, who am I kidding? I don’t do philosophy… :-p

   Andrew Hamann

   Jan 7, 11:46 PM #
2. Perhaps life begins with self-awareness – being aware of your own existence. However, I don’t know if plants or bacteria are self aware. Moreover, consciousness (self-awareness) is specific to central intelligence and doesn’t clearly define consciousness of swarm intelligence.
   
   Maybe we could define life as anything that has a both a definite structural and functional pattern within it or central bluprint (like DNA or RNA) that directs changes within its basic units and thus controls its existence.

   Tarun

   Jan 8, 04:11 AM #
3. Don’t forget adaptability as a conventional living characteristic.

   Glen C.

   Jan 8, 12:37 PM #
4. This is a question that has eluded human knowledge and understanding for as long as we know, and my guess is that we will never fully understand what life actually is. We can only make vague predictions based on what we observe, learn and imagine (activities I actively encourage and participate in).
   
   I think the five points you listed, along with the comments by Tarun, make a very good key for defining what we see life to be. You’re also right in saying that there are always exceptions, such as viruses that only seem to be ‘life’ or living inside a host.
   
   When you think about it, by the very definitions you have listed, an entity such as a computer virus could be defined as ‘life’ or alive. Now it’s getting interesting, go through each point on the list and you’ll see.
   
   Vincenze.

   Vincenze

   Jan 8, 08:56 PM #
5. Andrew: I guess it is a combination of both. Neither seems any easier to get a hold on…
   
   Tarun: Yes, consciousness would be a major factor of what I would consider life. however, there are varying levels of consciousness – would life be associated with consciousness where the organism recognizes itself as a living organism, or something less complex?
   
   The reason I am asking this was because I am wondering when life began. There was a point in the early history of earth where small collections of molecules became something with the attributes of life.
   
   What did they gain or lose that gave them life?
   
   Glen: Yes, I don’t know if that falls into the catchall of “response” that I put up, but it certainly is a valid characteristic.
   
   Vincenze: Yes, there are tons of exceptions, even fire seems to – at least minimally – have each of these characteristics. It grows by consuming energy, it moves and is reproducing in it’s growth and responds to it’s environment such as wind or rain.

   Thame

   Jan 9, 08:24 AM #
6. Life is the sum of all the characteristics that have already been described, and yet, as Vicenze said, it has eluded philosophy for centuries and now science.
   
   Why?
   
   I believe the point is that we, as a life form, cannot define ourselves the same way a microscope can see the invisible but cannot see itself.
   
   I believe we, as evolved life forms, are the recently formed sensitive organs of the evolving organism that is the universe. Somehow we can peek into the infinity, but we hardly can grasp ourselves.

   The Manual's Keeper

   Jan 11, 11:44 AM #
7. “Somehow we can peek into the infinity, but we hardly can grasp ourselves.”
   
   Wonderfully put

   Thame

   Jan 11, 09:27 PM #
8. Life is a continuum, a family rather than a set. Life is a term whose meaning is too embedded socially to shift in the way it ought to with scientific revelation. Is a virus alive? Is a bacterium? If they are, are they less alive than a frog, or a squirrel, or a human being? Would an artificial intelligence be alive? Is ‘alive’ even a useful term anymore in any field save that of everyday discourse?

   Benedict

   Jan 12, 06:30 AM #
9. Life is mobile operator in Ukraine(Turksell)
   Life:)

   Online

   Mar 20, 04:11 AM #
10. Based on the given definition of life, bacteria and viruses are alive, while robots and computers are not—at least if you’re looking at this from a biological standpoint.
    
    Now what would be really interesting is if humans could create AI that has the ability to grow and to reproduce on its own. When you think about it, these are the only life chracteristics that separate “natural” life from robotics and AI. Could humans someday create organisms from scratch, distinct from any other current living species that have all of the chracteristics of life? If so, what would that say about the existence of God? I suppose not much, since you are still using “God’s” elements to do the creating. Although you’d be making a new creature, you’d still be using the same building blocks that have been around since the beginning of time. (I put God in quotes because I realize that not everyone agrees that God exists).
    
    All these questions about autonomous man-made life make me want to go watch The Matrix, and I don’t even like that movie.

    Colleen

    Mar 20, 06:40 PM #
11. Although I don’t know if I agree with you on the viruses, I do like the rest of your comment.
    
    “Could humans someday create organisms from scratch, distinct from any other current living species that have all of the chracteristics of life?”
    
    Some argue that there is a non-physical component to life and I would imagine that it would be pretty hard to fabricate.
    
    If not, I think it is only a matter of time before a completely “physical” life is built either from existing organic parts or from scratch.

    Thame

    Mar 20, 07:41 PM #

12. What is a life?
    Definition :
    Anything or body with follow characteristics
    1. growth (small to big)
    2. reproduce by itself(one to two)
    3. can be kill (no growth, no reproduce)
    4. can repare itself
    5. old to die
    Healthy life body
    everything in balance
    Unhealthy life body
    someplace unbalance
    What cause unbalance?
    1. outside factors
    2. other life
    unbalance can not repare by itself we call disease

    sherman

    May 7, 08:30 AM #