Life is the aspect of existence that processes, acts, reacts, evaluates, and evolves through growth (reproduction and metabolism). The crucial difference between life and non-life (or non-living things) is that life uses energy for physical and conscious development.
what do you say about
Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it. (Charles R. Swindoll)
Life exists at many levels. Life is also a process through which energy and materials are transformed; but so is non-life. The difference is that the process of life is intimately linked to story it contains, whereas non-life is indifferent to the story we impose upon it. Yet life is only a story, so it can act only through matter. Therefore life is by nature a toolmaker. Its tools are potentially everything that exists, and its workshop is potentially the whole universe. So why do humans risk undermining the life of which they are part? Because they try to impose upon it a story of their own making. Yet humans, the ‘tool-making animals’, are themselves tools of life, in an unplanned experiment.
Nicholas Taylor, Little Sandhurst, Berkshire
First the technical definition. Life is self-organising chemistry which reproduces itself and passes on its evolved characteristics, encoded in DNA. In thermodynamics terms, it has the ability to reduce local entropy or disorganisation, thus locally contravening the third law of thermodynamics.
But what is life really about, if anything? The two possibilities are, life is either a meaningless accident arising from the laws of physics operating in a meaningless universe, or it is a step in a planned ‘experiment’. I say ‘step’, because this cannot be the end. The current state of life is as yet too unstable and undeveloped for it to be the end. And I say ‘experiment’ because the evolutionary nature of life suggests that its future is not known. If therefore the universe itself has a purpose, it seems most likely to be to explore what the outcome of the evolutionary experiment would be.
But what will be the outcome? If, as many physicists now believe, the universe is only information, then harnessing all the resources of the universe in one giant evolutionary process could plausibly provide a useful outcome for a species clever enough to create the universe in the first place. On this interpretation, life will ultimately organise all the physical resources of the universe into a single self-conscious intelligence, which in turn will then be able to interact with its creator(s).
Dr Harry Fuchs, Flecknoe, Warwickshire
life is the embodiment of selfishness! Life is selfish because it is for itself in two ways: it is for its own survival, and it is for its own reproduction. This desire is embodied in an adaptive autocatalytic chemical system, forming life’s embodied mind.
Life is the eternal and unbroken flow of infinite rippling simultaneous events that by a fortuitous chain has led to this universe of elements we are all suspended in, that has somehow led to this present experience of sentient existence. Animal life (excluding that of humans) shows that life is a simple matter of being, by means of a modest routine of eating, sleeping and reproducing. Animals balance their days between these necessities, doing only what their bodies ask of them. The life of vegetation is not far from that of animals. They eat and sleep and reproduce in their own way, for the same result. So life is a beautiful and naturally harmonious borrowing of energy.
Yet we have taken it for granted. We have lost the power to simply be happy eating, sleeping, reproducing, believing we need a reason to be alive, a purpose and a goal to reach, so that on our deathbeds (something we have been made to fear) we can look back and tell ourselves we have done something with our lives. Life has lost its purpose because we have tried to give it one. The truth is that we are no more significant than the sand by the sea or the clouds in the sky. No more significant. But as significant.
No matter what your race, religion or gender, when you first step outside your door in the morning and feel the fresh air in your lungs and the morning sun on your face, you close your eyes and smile. In that moment you are feeling life as it should be. No defining, no understanding, no thinking. Just that feeling of pure bliss. For that is what life is.
Courtney Walsh, Farnborough, Hampshire
Properties of life
Biologists have identified various traits common to all the living organisms we know of. Although nonliving things may show some of these characteristic traits, only living things show all of them.
Life is a mixture of sunshine and rain.
Laughter and teardrops, pleasure and pain.
Low tides and high tides, mountains and plains.
Triumphs, defeats, and losses and gains.
But always, in all ways
God's guiding and leading,
And he alone knows
The things we're most needing.
And when he sends sorrow,
Or some dreaded affliction,
Be assured that it comes
with God's guided benediction-
And if we accept it,
as a gift of his LOVE
We'll be showered with blessings,
from our father above.
Life, on Earth, is every biological structure capable of sustaining chemical reactions and reproducing. This means that viruses are life, bacteria and algae are life and so on. Crystals, however, even though they can sustain some sort of chemical reaction and can reproduce and grow are not life - because they are not organic.
“A Chance to contribute something extraordinary to the mankind ” Your life would be counted as the useless one if you keep all your knowledge within yourself. You have to contribute something for the betterment of mankind.
“A set of experiments and lessons for your kids” One of the reasons why I maintain a personal journal because I want my kids not make those same mistakes in their life which I already have committed. It would be a sort of “Manual of Life”.
Life is a bowler in a cricket game where you are the striker(batsman).The rules of this game of cricket is different.
Rules
There is no fielder in the ground.
No wicket keeper as well.
No wickets at all.
70 m radius boundary.
Only way to score is hitting sixes.
Only way to get out is “leaving the crease and head towards the pavilion.
Life starts bowling you many balls as opportunities and your task is to hit it for a maximum.If you hit it , then you are successful.And if not, wait for the next ball ,a new ball,a new swing of bat ,a new opportunity.
Not always a road of thorns,
neither is it a bush of rose.
We walk this path always,
filled with treasures, gems and gold.
What matters is not its state
for u may find those in a man.
May it be a foe, or a mate
You shall gather all you can.
We stand, we fall.
We meet, we part.
We show, we hide.
We stumble, we glide
and that my friend, is life. :)
How do you define Life?
To me personally life is:
Best description of real life Dr. Fung, thank you very much, I do agree with you.
Regards, Emad
Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it. (Charles R. Swindoll)
Life is the aspect of existence that processes, acts, reacts, evaluates, and evolves through growth (reproduction and metabolism). The crucial difference between life and non-life (or non-living things) is that life uses energy for physical and conscious development. Life is anything that grows and eventually dies, i.e., ceases to proliferate and be cognizant. Can we say that viruses, for example, are cognizant? Yes, insofar as they react to stimuli; but they are alive essentially because they reproduce and grow. Computers are non-living because even though they can cognize, they do not develop biologically (grow), and cannot produce offspring. It is not cognition that determines life, then: it is rather proliferation and maturation towards a state of death; and death occurs only to living substances.
For more details you can visit the following link:
https://philosophynow.org/issues/101/What_Is_Life
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
"Life
Life is a characteristic distinguishing physical entity having biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from those that do not, either because such functions have ceased, or because they never had such functions and are classified as inanimate. Various forms of life exist, such as plants, animals, fungi, protists, archaea, and bacteria. The criteria can at times be ambiguous and may or may not define viruses, viroids, or potential artificial life as "living". Biology is the primary science concerned with the study of life, although many other sciences are involved.
The definition of life is controversial. The current definition is that organisms maintain homeostasis, are composed of cells, undergo metabolism, can grow, adapt to their environment, respond to stimuli, and reproduce. However, many other biological definitions have been proposed, and there are some borderline cases of life, such as viruses. Throughout history, there have been many attempts to define what is meant by "life" and many theories on the properties and emergence of living things, such as materialism, the belief that everything is made out of matter and that life is merely a complex form of it; hylomorphism, the belief that all things are a combination of matter and form, and the form of a living thing is its soul; spontaneous generation, the belief that life repeatedly emerges from non-life; and vitalism, a now largely discredited hypothesis that living organisms possess a "life force" or "vital spark". Modern definitions are more complex, with input from a diversity of scientific disciplines. Biophysicists have proposed many definitions based on chemical systems; there are also some living systems theories, such as the Gaia hypothesis, the idea that the Earth itself is alive. Another theory is that life is the property of ecological systems, and yet another is elaborated in complex systems biology, a branch or subfield of mathematical biology. Abiogenesis describes the natural process of life arising from non-living matter, such as simple organic compounds. Properties common to all organisms include the need for certain core chemical elements to sustain biochemical functions.
Life on Earth first appeared as early as 4.28 billion years ago, soon after ocean formation 4.41 billion years ago, and not long after the formation of the Earth 4.54 billion years ago.[1][2][3][4] Earth's current life may have descended from an RNA world, although RNA-based life may not have been the first. The mechanism by which life began on Earth is unknown, though many hypotheses have been formulated and are often based on the Miller–Urey experiment. The earliest known life forms are microfossils of bacteria. In July 2016, scientists reported identifying a set of 355 genes believed to be present in the last universal common ancestor (LUCA) of all living organisms."...
Please, go to the attached website for more details....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
Life inspires more dread than death - it is a life which is the great unknown.
---- Emile M. Cioran
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
Life is a song - sing it. Life is a game - play it. Life is a challenge - meet it. Life is a dream - realize it. Life is a sacrifice - offer it. Life is love - enjoy it.
---- Sai Baba
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
The philosophy of life is this: Life is not a struggle, not a tension... Life is bliss. It is eternal wisdom, eternal existence.
---- Maharishi Mahesh Yog
"The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival." Aristotle
"Each person must live their life as a model for others." Rosa Parks
"Each life is made up of mistakes and learning, waiting and growing, practicing patience and being persistent." Billy Graham
"Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them." Dalai Lama
"God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well." Voltaire
"The only disability in life is a bad attitude." Scott Hamilton
"Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated." Confucius
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