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Samar Aryani's picture

The Definition of Life

The class discussions that have been held so far have been very interesting in nature, especially the discussion on what defines life.  I realized going into the conversation that there was not going to be a definite answer but at the same time I did not expect the 'answer' to be so complex.  It is amazing how a living thing is made of up of a collection of properties.  For instance, one living object may breath, move, and die, but it can't reproduce.  Also, the idea of a living thing as an improbable assembly seemed to make more sense of the characteristics of a living thing.

Our discussion on Wednesday's class about Langston's ant and whether or not it is alive as well struck me because I still can't decide whether or not it is alive.  After making some conclusions, one that stuck with me was the idea that maybe there isn't a sharp distinction between living and non-living things.  I believe that with the observations made in class in correlation with those of other biologists, one day a more concrete definition of what life is may form. 

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