On 20 Sep 2012, at 12:54, Roger Clough wrote:
Hi meekerdb
I would say that one necessary ability for
life is for an organism to be able to separate itself off
from its environment and thus to be able to make its
own decisions without outside interference. In
other words, to be autonomous.
Materialism provides no such focussing tool.
I would call that tool a self, primitive though it may be.
You really should study computer science, as the self is a solved
problem. Bot the 3p-self, and the non nameable 1p-self.
Bruno
Roger Clough, rclo...@verizon.net
9/20/2012
"Forever is a long time, especially near the end." -Woody Allen
----- Receiving the following content -----
From: meekerdb
Receiver: everything-list
Time: 2012-09-19, 15:05:52
Subject: Re: Zombieopolis Thought Experiment
On 9/19/2012 10:42 AM, Stathis Papaioannou wrote:
On Thu, Sep 20, 2012 at 12:38 AM, Roger Clough wrote:
Hi Stathis Papaioannou
OK, I'll bite.
How does modern biology define life ?
It's rarely defined unless someone asks for a definition. Problems
arise with the definition when it comes to viruses and prions, which
have some characteristics of other entities commonly considered alive
but not others.
I think they illustrate the point that the ability to live is always
relative to an
environment.
Brent
We can imagine other cases of entities that grow,
replicate and maintain homeostasis but may or may not be said to be
alive based on some other arbitrary criterion, such as whether it
uses
organic chemistry. Thus a machine (electronic and mechanical) that
maintains itself, seeks energy and spare parts from its environment
and makes copies of itself may or may not be called "alive" depending
on the whim of the definer.
But the important point I wanted to make is that biologists reject
vitalism.
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