Life
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SolSeed > Life
To define life in unequivocal terms is still a challenge for scientists (see Wikipedia:Life).
For our purposes, Life is the means by which the Universe engages Itself.
Everything, no matter how alive, is composed of atoms, finer particles, waves, strings and other energies. At some level of description, its behaviors are governed by the simple physical laws that order these basic constituents. And yet...
When we think about how and why a person acts, we rarely refer to simple physical laws. Instead we talk about needs, wants, feelings, desires, emotions, goals, relationships, and other organizing principles that are very far removed from the laws of physics. The behavior of a human being is governed by principles that Transcend and Include the foundational laws of Physics, Chemistry, Geology, and Astrophysics. Unlike the rest of the Universe, life-forms obey the Observership of the Universe through the conceptual artifacts of experience and meaning.
Contrast humans with mountains, glaciers, or planets. These simpler things merely follow the order described by the laws of the hard sciences. The atoms, finer particles, waves, strings and other energies in a live human body, while internally following the laws of the hard sciences, follow en masse the conceptual (non-material) order of knowledge and objectives.
The clash of the two orders have resulted in the transformation of the planet Earth. I.e., our observership-driven order of matter (in life-forms) is engaging NON-observership-driven order of matter (in the rest of nature). This engagement has been resulting in the generation and acceleration of a social reality comprising cities, towns, villages, highways, railways, tunnels, bridges, trains, cars, motorcycles, money, malls, supermarkets, department stores, television, telecommunications, the internet, and the like.
Life is the more precious of the two orders because it is the only order that allows the Universe to enjoy the ever greater thrill of engaging with Oneself at ever faster, emerging, and unpredictable levels of complexity - and perpetually keep fulfilling One's Creatorship.
Characteristics of Life
- Grow
- Reproduce
- Maintain internal structure (organization) ... (homeostasis)
- React ... respond to stimulus
Reduction in Entropy
Life is that which causes a reduction in entropy. entropy and life
"Living organisms preserve their internal order by taking from their surroundings free energy, in the form of nutrients or sunlight, and returning to their surroundings an equal amount of energy as heat and entropy." Principles of Biochemistry, 2nd Ed.
Continuum of Life
- Quarks
- Electrons, Neutrons, Protons ...
- Atoms
- Compounds and Molecules
- Crystals
- Carbohydrates
- Nucleotides
- Amino Acids
- Lipids
- Proteins
- Enzymes
- RNA
- DNA
- Plasmid
- Prions ... protein only replication
- Viruses (Virions)
- Prokaryotes (Bacteria, Archaea) and Eukaryotes (fungi, plants, animals)
- Societies ... ants, termites, bees, humans
- Ecosystems ... Cascadia, Gaia, SolSeed
Social Systems
- How do these simpler constituents organize to form larger more complex orders