Why life does not really exist.
December 7, 2013 9:10 PM Subscribe
"No one has ever managed to compile a set of physical properties that unites all living things and excludes everything we label inanimate"...
... "There are always exceptions. Most people do not consider crystals to be alive, for example, yet they are highly organized and they grow. Fire, too, consumes energy and gets bigger. In contrast, bacteria, tardigrades and even some crustaceans can enter long periods of dormancy during which they are not growing, metabolizing or changing at all, yet are not technically dead. How do we categorize a single leaf that has fallen from a tree?"
... "There are always exceptions. Most people do not consider crystals to be alive, for example, yet they are highly organized and they grow. Fire, too, consumes energy and gets bigger. In contrast, bacteria, tardigrades and even some crustaceans can enter long periods of dormancy during which they are not growing, metabolizing or changing at all, yet are not technically dead. How do we categorize a single leaf that has fallen from a tree?"
This post was deleted for the following reason: Double. -- restless_nomad
doh. sorry.
posted by panaceanot at 9:16 PM on December 7, 2013
posted by panaceanot at 9:16 PM on December 7, 2013
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posted by bruceo at 9:14 PM on December 7, 2013