What is Life to You?

[NeverAmI]

So, this is influenced by May's thread.

What do you consider life? This doesn't have to be strictly scientific. Just explain to me how you understand life.

To me, it is simply self-replicating RNA.

Before I understood that, at a very naive level it was anything that showed flux, anything that changed without observed interaction. Then I started to learn that wind and fire, water and such don't actually have life, they are forces of nature, so to speak.

 

[Faye]

Life is anything that is annoying.

 

[DoveAlexa]

So, this is influenced by May's thread.

What do you consider life? This doesn't have to be strictly scientific. Just explain to me how you understand life.

To me, it is simply self-replicating RNA.

Agreed, though I might add to this if anything come of this whole "Nano-bacteria" thing. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanobacterium
They still haven't found any DNA in the things but people are still arguing that this is life, although very similar to just crystals of calcium.

Whats even harder, is what is Sentient? I only ask this because even if something isn't life, but is sentient, should we have the same or more respect for it than actual life?

 

[NeverAmI]

Agreed, though I might add to this if anything come of this whole "Nano-bacteria" thing. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanobacterium
They still haven't found any DNA in the things but people are still arguing that this is life, although very similar to just crystals of calcium.

Whats even harder, is what is Sentient? I only ask this because even if something isn't life, but is sentient, should we have the same or more respect for it than actual life?

Yea, that is a great question. I fear it is not explainable until we better understand consciousness and behavioral science. But these are things I don't know much about, I have some good books lined up though.

 

[deadred]

A good question, but...

Life is lots of things on lots of different levels. Plants are alive, animals are alive, humans are alive, cells seem to be alive in some way. Does life include a brain, a consciousness, or even mere awareness? I don't know how to answer those questions in light of the above. It's easy to say life is precious or how every you want to say it, but we've all killed flies, ants, snakes, and other pests, so are we just doing lip service to what we claim as Truth? I don't know how to answer that one either. Rick

 

[Gaze]

Life has an internal core which supports it's ability to move, breathe, or function separately from other organisms.

 

[Jack]

Too mysterious and complex to be reduced to one summary

 

[Melkor]

A constant yet pointless struggle of organisms trying to overcome each other yet never truly succeeding in one great big pointless charade.

It's fun though.

 

[88chaz88]

I believe that a living thing can be considered something that chooses to work rather than being hard programmed. A jellyfish chooses to eat rather than starve, yet enzymes and other cells just do their job, they don't have the choice not to.

But also:

Too mysterious and complex to be reduced to one summary

This.

 

[Roger]

A golden chance to spend time with this beautiful universe.

 

[88chaz88]

A golden chance to spend time with this beautiful universe.

Haha, I can just imagine that on a science paper.

 

[SamE]

Life is our enlightenment to exist in a temporal abode created from light and dark matter of which, you never stop learning until you stop breathing.

In general shrugs. Its like a round soup full of organisms that walk, run, fly, swim, dig and more. methane helps make the ozone plusher, water and oxygen makes telling ingredients.

 

[invisible]

life is ok

 

[dneecey]

Life... hmm... An opportunity to replenish, and be replenished.

 

[Skathac]

Life feels like another long walk in a different shell. It can be fun, difficult, sometimes melancholy. All in all I like life, but sometimes find myself missing the in between.

 

[enfp can be shy]

Life is the same physical process as non-life. We just equate complexity and mystery. Life has never had purpose, it arose accidentally at random. Like fire starts and wind starts, and rivers flow - all because of some discrepancies. And like fire; life spreads and evolves exponentially fast, requires crucial supporting elements, and could extinguish itself. On the timescales of the known universe our planetary life is a spark, which happened in a fraction of a second.

 

[Entyqua]

...not gonna come from a scientific POV here...In the world there is stasis and change...Non life, and life...that is how I look at it.

 

[DoveAlexa]

A golden chance to spend time with this beautiful universe.

Haha, I can just imagine that on a science paper.

Yeah, you're teacher will write on it: "F for Fe-ing!"

 

[Matariki]

Life is a gift given by god, not to wasted.

 

[Flavus Aquila]

Different categories of life (from lowest to highest).

1. Vegetative: consuming energy, growing, reproducing. (Living).

2. Sensitive: having one or more senses, with a nerveous system able to integrate the data. (Experiencing).

3. Rational: having memory, intellect and understanding capable of forming notions/concepts/ideas about what is experienced. (Reasoning/understanding).

4. Intellective: having universal concepts of existance and existing things without having to aquire sense data. (Seeing/angelic).

5. Perfect: understanding existance (one's own existance perfectly) to perfection with utter simplicity, together with the ability to cause existence. (Divine eternal life).