Bacteriophages can even reanimate/ resurrect dead bacteria — Benj96
Part of the difficulty lies within developing a concrete definition of “life” or “living systems” in the first place. — Benj96
So how is it that inanimate chemicals can form a living thing. And when does one call a living thing conscious? Some believe the whole universe is living in that it possesses conscious agency as a fundamental force of nature. And that the boundaries we place between that which is living and that which is dead is a false artificial construct — Benj96
Part of the difficulty lies within developing a concrete definition of “life” or “living systems” in the first place. To date the cell has typically been considered the fundamental unit of life as it possesses characteristics common across the board. However even these characteristics - reproduction , response, structure, excretion, nutrition, etc lie in a grey area. For example viruses sometimes possess all the characteristic but only in conjunction with a living host on which it depends to reproduce. — Benj96
Bacteriophages can even reanimate/ resurrect dead bacteria adding to the strangeness that is the line between dead and alive. — Benj96
So how is it that inanimate chemicals can form a living thing. — Benj96
So how is it that inanimate chemicals can form a living thing. And when does one call a living thing conscious? — Benj96
Does anyone have perspective of it or an alternative theory? I am open to a natural explanation for life's origin, I'm just not sure an account can be given in natural terms without any miraculous occurrences. — NotAristotle
And I am not sure if atomic activity would change, perhaps atoms that are part of living things act differently. — NotAristotle
The atoms, by extension and as parts of the organism, act differently than were they part of something dead. — NotAristotle
The way atoms act is a function of the context they are in in any case, without a distinction between living and non-living being what makes the difference — wonderer1
Atoms and molecules follow the rules of chemistry and physics, even when they're part of a complex, living, breathing being. If you learned in chemistry that some atoms tend to gain or lose electrons or form bonds with each other, those facts remain true even when the atoms or molecules are part of a living thing. In fact, simple interactions between atoms—played out many times and in many different combinations, in a single cell or a larger organism—are what make life possible. One could argue that everything you are, including your consciousness, is the byproduct of chemical and electrical interactions between a very, very large number of nonliving atoms!
And when does one call a living thing conscious? — Benj96
Part of the difficulty lies within developing a concrete definition of “life” or “living systems” in the first place. — Benj96
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