What is life made of?

[Runewolf1973]

What are we ultimately made of? Atoms, molecules, all the stuff that is energy and matter. What is a blade of grass made of? A single blade of grass that in the right conditions takes form and grows and multiplies. Still that blade of grass is nothing more than a bunch of atoms and molecules put together that grows and changes form. How is a crystal so different? Why should a crystal (quartz for instance)that grows and takes form in the earth and multiplies when the conditions are right not also be classified a life-form such as that grass? How is it so different? How is that which we call "life" so different from that which we call "non-life". Why should there be any separate classifications as such? After all, all anything really is is Just a bunch of atoms and molecules. We are just put together a little differently. Is it just the human ego that thinks it necessary to distinguish between things? God forbid scientists find out we humans are nothing more than a bunch of well organized rocks. Funny how ice crystals look so much like fern plants growing.

 

[freethinker44]

Good point. I guess it would all be a matter of perspective huh? If a crystal could think, would it consider us to be alive or just a big bag of mostly water making random movements.

 

[Runewolf1973]

For people, scientists even, to think that life is some mysterious emergent "phenomena" that somehow only certain things possess leaves to much room for the old "God must have done it". I tend to believe that all energy changes form because it already has life, consciousness. That is why I believe atoms vibrate and energy and matter can have an action and a reaction. It is all life, animate. But that's my opinion. There should be nothing supernatural or mysterious about it. Perhaps humans just put too many labels on things to separate them from one another. Perhaps a quantum physicist would think differently? Maybe that "consciousness" or "life" is the same thing that is what God is? People just label it differently as well.

 

[Kurt31416]

Everything is alive. That some things have life and some don't, is superstition.

 

[Bware]

For people, scientists even, to think that life is some mysterious emergent "phenomena" that somehow only certain things possess leaves to much room for the old "God must have done it". I tend to believe that all energy changes form because it already has life, consciousness. That is why I believe atoms vibrate and energy and matter can have an action and a reaction. It is all life, animate. But that's my opinion. There should be nothing supernatural or mysterious about it. Perhaps humans just put too many labels on things to separate them from one another. Perhaps a quantum physicist would think differently? Maybe that "consciousness" or "life" is the same thing that is what God is? People just label it differently as well.

You know this is a really good arguement. I never really though of things like this. Interesting viewpoint.

 

[Sunstone]

Life is self-replicating.

 

[Just_me_Mike]

The only real question left is, is there a creator or not?
Science is content with leaving the creator out, because the creator thus far is not scientific.

Although, to your point, I might suggest that what makes life up is survival. Although survival is not an object, it may just be the driving force that makes up our life similar to a force like gravity .

As a Christan, I make God responsible for this, but the point is the same with or without God.

 

[Runewolf1973]

Life is self-replicating.

If such thing as a plant needs a specific environment and soil and light and water to grow and reproduce, that means that it was not "self" replicating. It took other things to cause it to happen. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Perhaps life is a reaction of sorts.

 

[3.14]

now i know where transformers come from, all those lunar modules we sent up

 

[MSizer]

I think that it is wrong to say that everything has conciousness. There is a definition of conciousness, and a crystal does not contain the components required to create conciousness (central nervous system). I agree with you that the "stuff" of the world is not nearly as different as dualists think it is, but to say a crystal is no different from a gene is like saying red is really not so different from blue, as they're both colours. I would agree with you that there's no "soul" that a living being has to separate it from a stone, but I don't agree at all that a stone has conciousness.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Funny on how the answer is here with us right now but so elusive so as you can never put a finger on it.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

What are we ultimately made of? Atoms, molecules, all the stuff that is energy and matter. What is a blade of grass made of? A single blade of grass that in the right conditions takes form and grows and multiplies. Still that blade of grass is nothing more than a bunch of atoms and molecules put together that grows and changes form. How is a crystal so different? Why should a crystal (quartz for instance)that grows and takes form in the earth and multiplies when the conditions are right not also be classified a life-form such as that grass? How is it so different? How is that which we call "life" so different from that which we call "non-life". Why should there be any separate classifications as such? After all, all anything really is is Just a bunch of atoms and molecules. We are just put together a little differently. Is it just the human ego that thinks it necessary to distinguish between things? God forbid scientists find out we humans are nothing more than a bunch of well organized rocks. Funny how ice crystals look so much like fern plants growing.

Life is simply a class of things which, we have observed, share particular attributes. Anything which has these attributes, is classified as living. Crystals do not have these attributes, so they are not classified as life.

 

[Runewolf1973]

Life is simply a class of things which, we have observed, share particular attributes. Anything which has these attributes, is classified as living. Crystals do not have these attributes, so they are not classified as life.

Yes, that is part of what I am getting at. Science "classifies" things so much, puts everything in it's own separate category, it's own thing, but in reality it is all the same thing. If things (such as us)that are composed of atoms and molecules, mostly bags of water really, can contain within them consciousness, awareness, why is it so supernatural or mysterious to think that so-called inanimate objects such as an atom can have it's own level of consciousness? Are we humans any more "animate" or "vibrational" than an atom is? An atom is very well motivated. If it were true that atoms were "inanimate" or "non-living", then why is it they move around so much? If awareness did not exist, or consciousness, the atom would not move, change form or anything. Everything would be static and the Universe would probably not exist. This "consciousness" that I speak of may be as simple as an electric field of sorts or a chemical attraction, perhaps the human brain is just a larger working model of such. A simple electrical or chemical reaction that causes an atom to be "aware" of the presence of other atoms to join together. I am not saying that the consciousness or awareness of an atom or crystal is the same as our own human awareness. We have a very highly developed conscious sense that allows us to perceive much more of our world around us. Perhaps an atom can only perceive or be aware of it's own little "universe". At the very least, I do not believe consciousness or life to be a supernatural or emergent phenomena that somehow appeared or was created out of some primordial soup. That sounds too much like just another creation theory. Is anything really ever "created"? Anything that is energy or has energy? I believe it was always a part of that "soup", before it was even "soup". It merely changed form, became more conscious, more aware, more "life-like" to our standards. Like energy, consciousness is not "created", nor can it be destroyed, it just changes form. It is a part of all energy. But that is my opinion. My way of viewing this world. Perhaps everything can be said to be "emergent" in such a way, but emergent from consciousness, even energy itself.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Let's talk again when someone observes rocks behaving in a way which would suggest that they are conscious.

 

[Runewolf1973]

Let's talk again when someone observes rocks behaving in a way which would suggest that they are conscious.

The only reason why those rocks are rocks is because energy changed form. How? The atoms, even though we do not "see" them, are very much moving around. There is no such thing as a truly "inanimate" object. Rocks move around very slowly. At an atomically slow pace.

 

[Runewolf1973]

I believe consciousness to be the same as that force which results in the simple action and reaction effect of all energy. Drop a rock on the ground. What does it do? It reacts in the only way it can. When that rock hit the ground, it instantly became aware of that ground and gave a response to it. CRACK!! That, to me, is consciousness.

 

[linwood]

Let's talk again when someone observes rocks behaving in a way which would suggest that they are conscious.

Nor do they self-replicate.

 

[3.14]

well they do make a better conversation partner then my ex girlfriend

 

[Runewolf1973]

Nor do they self-replicate.

Humans, animals, and plants do not self replicate either. They need energy drawn from other things to cause the "change in form" to form another thing. Put a single human in a room filled with nothing, does that human self-replicate? Everything is a product of something else. Ever look at a cluster of quartz crystals? They do replicate and grow given the right conditions.

 

[Willamena]

What is life?
"Sit quietly, doing nothing, spring comes, and the grass grows by itself."
~Zen saying.

What is life made of?
"Sit", "quietly", "doing", "nothing", "spring", "comes", "grass", "grows", "itself".