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Author Topic:   Is there a border dividing life from non-life?
AshsZ
Member (Idle past 5400 days)
Posts: 35
From: Edgewater, FL USA
Joined: 05-17-2008


Message 102 of 132 (467479)
05-21-2008 8:00 PM


Thanks, Sidelined.
The only border that exists is the one you believe exists, LOL. I am inclined to say that there exists no real "collective border" between the two. The word "life" is an absract concept for the most part, especially in the context of which your question is posed. You could analyze it from the perspective of classifying independent objects or you could analyze it from the perspective of process or function, cause-effect. Everything is connected though - "life" is made from the same matter that "non-life" is made of and matter interacts with matter. Although the soil isn't "life", it is required in order for plant life to exist. We need air to breathe - the air is just as much a part of us as our lungs.
Trying to define life as some specific chemical makeup or behaviour can be done and it would clear the fog to reveal the border you seek. But to come up with a definition of life that everyone agrees upon isn't likely to happen - THAT is what makes the border between the two so obscure.
It isn't that a border can't exist clear as day though - the border appears for you wherever you define it to be. Those that agree with you will see it just the same.
I'm not privvy to the wealth of knowledge many members here have when it comes to the biology involved - I do however understand process. As an engineer I tend to view subjects like this in much the same way as I would analyze a machine or a system of machines. "What does it do, what is it made of, what makes it tick." The way I see it is there exists a common chemical "denominator" that living things are structured by. An internal combustion piston engine is an internal combustion piston engine whether it has 1 cylinder, 2, 4,6,8 whatever - it comes in different flavors but they are all still internal combustion piston engines. A steam engine is a sort of piston engine but it does not operate on internal combustion, so we call that a piston-steam engine. If one engineer says to me, "We are going to build an "X" machine and use an engine to power it." I would simply ask the question, "what kind of engine are you thinking of?" to gain clarification of the details. There are clear differences between these types of engines but there are also many similarities as well - but we call them "engines" as a broad categorization of many types of devices which can produce mechanical work. And engines wouldn't qualify as life.
"Life" is no different - it has many different forms and variations in its appearance, size, etc, but all life has also both clearly distinguishable material composition as well as basic function. i.e. it all has the DNA molecule at the heart of its physical construct and life all has an affinity towards sustaining its existence. There's the "what's it do, what's it made of, and what makes it tick."
If I were to point to any random object in the room and ask you if it were life or non-life, I am sure we would both agree on the answer. But when you start breaking an object in question down into its constituents further and further, you eventually will get to a point where you are no longer even asking the question "is it life or not". You then begin the struggle of trying to define its every element and non-element
Life really isn't a "thing" anyhow - it is more of a process - a cause-effect property of matter - an abstract concept. Perhaps instead of looking at things through a microscope, a telescope may just do the trick. Standing on the surface of the moon, looking back at the planet, one could probably have the perspective to just realize "THAT is life". Could you imagine the feeling that sight would create?
Earth, the planet of life.

  
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