Life is quite poorly defined. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life#Definitions Most commonly, it just has a few distinct characteristics, such as reaction to stimuli, reproduction and metabolism. If you want some other definition than that, you're going to have to specify it bit by bit yourself.
Ah but see, he said "the living'! Reminds me of similarly challenged ESL sort of religious nut who insisted that "a plant is not a life". He claimed, oddly, to work at a university and to work with students, tho he was very coy about saying if he had a degree, if he was a teacher etc, saying just that he had "the highest possible degree of education". He may have meant he was a janitor; when asked, he would not say. Some fundys, a few at least, find it hard to tell a completely bald faced lie. But anyway,, did he mean plants are not alive, or that "a plant" and "a life' have quite distinct meanings? Does our hero here know that "the living" is distinct from "life"? it is of course... It did turn out that he thought plants are not alive, as they do not breathe. Sigh. But we never did find out if he thought "a life" and "alive" mean the same, to him anyway.
I agree, life is poorly defined. Some virologists think that a virus is the most basic form of life. But this topic I think is about sentient beings...though we can't be sure that viruses aren't sentient. Honestly, I haven't made up my mind on this.
True, the living is not necessarily the same as life. However, I hope there is some fundamental link between the two. The living could for instance mean those who are living, those who are experiencing life, or possibly the action of living, which also would be quite closely linked to the definition of life.
Defining life for a human (the only species I’m aware of that tries to define life) is a self serving cause in many cases (those I suggest, beyond the scientific) just like trying to attach sanctity to it is. It is also in many cases a fool’s errand. We are because we can say we are if we weren’t we wouldn’t. What we are is not nearly as important as what we do now that we are. Now you might say how can we know what to do if we don’t know how we got here and it’s a valid point some of the time. If you discard the science of what it means to “be here” as in the laws of nature, astronomy, etc., then find yourself at the mercy of countless answers none more valid than the next. “Never theorize before you have data. Invariably, you end up twisting facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.” Sherlock Holmes
What does Job 14:1-17 (MSG) say? = “We’re all adrift in the same boat: too few days, too many troubles. We spring up like wildflowers in the desert and then wilt, transient as the shadow of a cloud. Do you occupy your time with such fragile wisps? Why even bother hauling me into court? There’s nothing much to us to start with; how do you expect us to amount to anything? Mortals have a limited life span. You’ve already decided how long we’ll live— you set the boundary and no one can cross it. So why not give us a break? Ease up! Even ditchdiggers get occasional days off. For a tree there is always hope. Chop it down and it still has a chance— its roots can put out fresh sprouts. Even if its roots are old and gnarled, its stump long dormant, At the first whiff of water it comes to life, buds and grows like a sapling. But men and women? They die and stay dead. They breathe their last, and that’s it. Like lakes and rivers that have dried up, parched reminders of what once was, So mortals lie down and never get up, never wake up again—never. Why don’t you just bury me alive, get me out of the way until your anger cools? But don’t leave me there! Set a date when you’ll see me again. If we humans die, will we live again? That’s my question. All through these difficult days I keep hoping, waiting for the final change—for resurrection! Homesick with longing for the creature you made, you’ll call—and I’ll answer! You’ll watch over every step I take, but you won’t keep track of my missteps. My sins will be stuffed in a sack and thrown into the sea—sunk in deep ocean.
Great job, to the wyrd of gawd Humility to knowing LIFE. Cool sh't we are light, the life of mass is em (the energy of the system to measure). It is entangled to its origins/environment, always. (gravity- potential is from the entangled states (associations) The life that people know as being conscious, is just that state of an evolved life to comprehend itself as an I. Nothing supernatural at the molecular scale. It exists and defining that is what knowledge does enable. A tree and a virus are alive based on the same natural occurances as you and I. The difference is, our evolved branch, developed a method to record experience (memories), that can be coherantly retrived from the state of an I. This bag of rocks (elements/molecules) is just the vehicle that each awaken upon. If the bag is damaged, that point of an I, will always have existed and still, but cannot cause an action by choice anymore. But the life, the energy, the em, that anyone of us can imposed to live and exist, by our choice, does live and can outlive, our conscious awareness of itself. We can live beyond the awaken moment and it be a fact. But this conscious awareness that we wake up to, each morning, does end, each night until on day, our I dont wake up. We are practicing the death people fear, every night we sleep Just be happy that what you do while awake is what enables your ever lasting life by what you impose to exist, by your choice.
