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Donbot has a definition of life which is very brief:
"Life is the negentropic solution to an environment."
Whereas I appreciate his brevity, he must acknowledge that the definition is subjective.
Otherwise a painting of Picasso hanging in a museum is a form of life because its presence
causes its own reproduction as one can see by visiting the museum shop. People who want to
duplicate a famous painting must substantial changes to the their painting so that it does not
appear to be based on the original painting. This is an anti-cloning law, in a sense, applied to
art.
Perhaps if you draw the line at the point at which the form of life is as complex as the simplest
single cell organic life form. The minimilist one that Craig Venter is developing.
http://www.astrobio.net/cgi-bin/h2p.cgi?sid=332&ext=.pdf
Further Discussion of Minimalist Life
There are small cells of 400 nanometers in diameter attached to larger cells found near the
vents at the bottom of the ocean. Good pictures showing the staining.
Without setting a limit, we are tempted to call a knife a living system. A pair of scissors is the
minimal machine whereas a knife is a tool. But is an ox a "tool"? Donbot's points on these
issues are valuable.
don
"Life is the negentropic solution to an environment."
Whereas I appreciate his brevity, he must acknowledge that the definition is subjective.
Otherwise a painting of Picasso hanging in a museum is a form of life because its presence
causes its own reproduction as one can see by visiting the museum shop. People who want to
duplicate a famous painting must substantial changes to the their painting so that it does not
appear to be based on the original painting. This is an anti-cloning law, in a sense, applied to
art.
Perhaps if you draw the line at the point at which the form of life is as complex as the simplest
single cell organic life form. The minimilist one that Craig Venter is developing.
http://www.astrobio.net/cgi-bin/h2p.cgi?sid=332&ext=.pdf
Further Discussion of Minimalist Life
There are small cells of 400 nanometers in diameter attached to larger cells found near the
vents at the bottom of the ocean. Good pictures showing the staining.
Without setting a limit, we are tempted to call a knife a living system. A pair of scissors is the
minimal machine whereas a knife is a tool. But is an ox a "tool"? Donbot's points on these
issues are valuable.
don
