definition of life – Uncommon Descent

Researchers propose to redefine life to include the economy

When we define “the economy” as “life,” what follows? Dollar bills are cells? No, they are not cells. They power the economy only through human recognition, not on their own physical contribution.

Artificial Intelligence Intelligent Design Mind

Could really powerful AI be considered a life form?

An AI theorist makes that case to a technical writer…

Intelligent Design Science

Vague words in science: Vague or plague?

The worst part of witch hunts in science is that they so often involve controversies over words without precise definitions,

Cell biology Intelligent Design

Altruism? In viruses?

How can viruses have altruism if they are not alive? Let’s assume that this is not an argument for panpsychism (You are conscious, sure, but so is your coffee mug.) It seems to be an argument that viruses behave as life forms do.

Darwinism Intelligent Design Natural selection Origin Of Life

Gerald Joyce no longer uses the NASA “must show Darwinian evolution” definition of life

Though he helped develop it. Recently, a problem has arisen round efforts to create a synthetic cell. Gerald Joyce, now of the Salk Institute, helped NASA come up with a very widely used definition of life, “Life is a self-sustained chemical system capable of undergoing Darwinian evolution.” But, as medicl historian Rebecca Wilbanks explains at Aeon, In 2009, Read More…

martin_r KF, don't misunderstand me, sure, all species are also living entities. What I meant was, that dragonfly's body is pure... – Of Dragonflies, Spitfires and Elliptical Wings
martin_r chuck, Dawkins has a whole new book out on flight. How timely is that? you mean a biologist has a... – Of Dragonflies, Spitfires and Elliptical Wings
Querius JVL @345, Code as in what computer programmers do is not at all like what is seen in DNA. In... – L&FP, 66: String -- yes, s-t-r-i-n-g...
groovamos The issue is whether it should be legal for adults to undergo medical treatment to change their sex if that’s... – Give Dawkins credit for guts: He...
Querius Origenes @347, For the sake of rational coherence, can we all agree that a watch does not “appear” to be... – L&FP, 66: String -- yes, s-t-r-i-n-g...
chuckdarwin KF/18 Dragonflies are exhibiting classic Beheian devolution. Getting smaller and smaller. Pretty soon they will fit in a thimble. By... – Of Dragonflies, Spitfires and Elliptical Wings
Origenes CR @347 For example, the very same watch could appear to have wildly more or less of the appearance of... – L&FP, 66: String -- yes, s-t-r-i-n-g...
critical rationalist CR, you tried to suggest that a watch is an analogue instrument so bits are irrelevant. I simply pointed out... – L&FP, 66: String -- yes, s-t-r-i-n-g...
bornagain77 How life changes itself: the Read-Write (RW) genome. - 2013 Excerpt: Research dating back to the 1930s has shown that... – L&FP, 66: String -- yes, s-t-r-i-n-g...
JVL Kairosfocus: , typified by algorithmic code in string data structures in the cell. Code as in what computer programmers do... – L&FP, 66: String -- yes, s-t-r-i-n-g...
bornagain77 as to: Harvard’s Richard Lewontin summarized it, organisms ” … appear to have been carefully and artfully designed.” 4 He... – L&FP, 66: String -- yes, s-t-r-i-n-g...
vividbleau Sort of a funny story but instructive. I play Texas Holdem and the worst starting hand is seven deuce off... – Give Dawkins credit for guts: He...
vividbleau “The issue is whether it should be legal for adults to undergo medical treatment to change their sex if that’s... – Give Dawkins credit for guts: He...
Querius Kairosfocus @341, Complex design comes from competent, intelligently directed configuration, here, typified by algorithmic code in string data structures in... – L&FP, 66: String -- yes, s-t-r-i-n-g...
relatd Kf at 23, You speak without a comprehensive background. The German Jumo jet engine was axial as opposed to Whittle's... – Of Dragonflies, Spitfires and Elliptical Wings
relatd Querius, You're still missing the basic idea. Machines can never exist without people to make them. You seem to be... – L&FP, 66: String -- yes, s-t-r-i-n-g...
kairosfocus Related, you speak of 1942 not 1934, date of the elliptical wing. KF PS, it was want of materials that... – Of Dragonflies, Spitfires and Elliptical Wings
kairosfocus AF, after decades of attempting to deny recognition of design, now we see oh the issue is source. Complex design... – L&FP, 66: String -- yes, s-t-r-i-n-g...
Querius Relatd @332, You are completely missing the big picture. Before Computer Aided Design there was pencil and paper – still... – L&FP, 66: String -- yes, s-t-r-i-n-g...
kairosfocus Q, information is readily defined and measured, this is part of telecommunications theory, that is where bits comes from. Design... – L&FP, 66: String -- yes, s-t-r-i-n-g...
JVL Relatd: How did unguided evolution invent body plans? Via a process of inheritable variation and cumulative selection. As I have... – L&FP, 66: String -- yes, s-t-r-i-n-g...