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Post by carpathianpeasant on Jan 10, 2014 8:26:56 GMT -6
Does anyone know (or remember?) the defining factors of life or living things (living things v. non-living things) such as growth and reproduction? I know there are at least a couple more and I can't remember them. And, looking it up in a dictionary doesn't do any good as they don't say any such thing -- I tried the big one that uses links to all known dictionaries (One Look).
If you don't know what I mean, by non-livings is meant things like rocks, not something that once was alive but no longer is, like wooden boards or cotton clothing. There is a precise definition of what constitutes both living things and non-living things.
Non-living things don't grow. Living things do. Non-living things don't reproduce. Living things do. Etc.
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Post by carpathianpeasant on Jan 21, 2014 17:05:54 GMT -6
Well, I think I finally thought of another: irritability.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2014 17:27:50 GMT -6
Well, I think I finally thought of another: irritability. You make me smile.
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Post by carpathianpeasant on Feb 1, 2014 13:52:13 GMT -6
Well, I think I finally thought of another: irritability. You make me smile. Well, this was a dead topic long before you posted the comment, but there have been technical (academic) definitions of what is and what is not included in "living things" v. "non-living things." Something once alive but no longer so isn't in the non-living class.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2014 14:49:30 GMT -6
I don't know much about that. Would that be a subject covered in the Biology section? Where do you begin to look for that kind of information? I would be like to know more about it myself, Strange that they would classify something as living if it is no longer living. Don't know that it is a dead topic, maybe an unusual one, probably not a lot of people know much about it.
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Post by carpathianpeasant on Feb 1, 2014 15:45:25 GMT -6
I don't know much about that. Would that be a subject covered in the Biology section? Where do you begin to look for that kind of information? I would be like to know more about it myself, Strange that they would classify something as living if it is no longer living. Don't know that it is a dead topic, maybe an unusual one, probably not a lot of people know much about it. I honestly don't remember. That's why I asked.
Chances are it was some kind of philosophical study as what keeps drifting through my mind at the moment is Aristotle, Greek philosophers, Plato but there's also other very remote possibilities. It wouldn't be biology as I never got beyond the one class high school students at the time were required to take and I didn't do particularly well in that.
All I remember is there were several (maybe four or even five) factors that classified something as a living thing. One was the ability to grow and one was the ability to reproduce. "Non-living" didn't/doesn't mean "dead" or "no longer living." It means it never did have life, never will have life -- is incapable of it.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2014 17:44:23 GMT -6
Okay, I know a philosopher. I will ask him, maybe he is familiar with it.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2014 18:41:37 GMT -6
Here is what he sent me. He knows I am not a scholar so he kept it as simple as he could for me.
I think you might be looking for something basic like this. This is something I pulled verbatim off some web site. It is not too philosophical. Truth is no one knows the actual and true cut off between living and dead things. You read all sorts of things from all sorts of people. But they are people, like you. I personally like the definition that a living thing is greater than the sum of its parts....that even if you add up the atoms and molecules and compounds making up you and then replicate that mixture in a bucket it will not be you, the living creature. But this slips into questions of mind and structure and technology so on. You could spend an entire philosophical career on this and die feeling you didn't get to the substantial bottom of the thing. Good luck "Living things are different from non-living things in the following ways: 1. Food All living things need food to get energy to carry out all the activities. Plants make their own food in the presence of water, sunlight and soil. Animals and human beings depend on plants for food. Non-living things do not need food for their survival. 2. Growth All living things follow a life cycle in which they are born, grow and finally die. A seed grows into a seedling, then into a plant and finally into a tree. A baby grows into an adult and finally becomes old. Animals also grow from babies to adults. As the living beings grow, they change in size, shape and appearance. Non-living things do not grow and they remain the same. 3. Movement All living things move from one place to another. Animals move in search of food. Some animals hunt for their food while others graze on grass. Birds fly in the air. Human beings roam for different activities. Plants though living do not move from place to place. They are help in the soil by their roots. Some parts of certain plants can move some of their plants like the leaves of certain plants close at night and open in the night and the branches of a sunflower always bend in the direction of sunlight. We need to push or pull to move a non-living thing. Non-living things cannot move on their own. 4. Breathe All living things need also to breathe and stay alive. All living things have an organ which helps in breathing. Human beings and many animals breathe through nose. Insects have tiny air holes in their body called as spiracles. Fish breathe though gills. Plants breathe through openings, called stomata, on their leaves. As non-living things do not have life, they do not breathe. 5. Reproduction All living things produce more of it’s kind with the process of reproductions. Some animals lay eggs while others including human beings give birth to young ones. Plants produce seeds. Non-living things do not reproduce. 6. Response Living things have sense organs (eyes, nose, tongue, skin and ears) due to which they respond to changes in their environment. Animals also feel and respond to changes in their environment. Bears hibernate in winters to protect itself from cold. Dogs have sharp sense of smell. Plants do not grow in the absence of light, water and air. Non-living things do not feel. They are not affected by any changes around them."
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Post by carpathianpeasant on Feb 2, 2014 22:38:37 GMT -6
Yep. That's got it down pretty good.
It's not exactly what I vaguely remember because I don't think there were six earmarks, but it's maybe even better.
Thank you.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2014 23:34:51 GMT -6
Your welcome. I will let him know that you enjoyed what he sent.
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Post by carpathianpeasant on Feb 3, 2014 5:55:56 GMT -6
Your welcome. I will let him know that you enjoyed what he sent. I appreciate what he sent. Tell him to come join in, that presently it's not a fast-paced board and perfect for speculative sciences.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2014 20:08:35 GMT -6
Sure that too. He doesn't go to message boards, so it wouldn't do any good to ask him to join. Presently he is teaching in France, keeps him so busy I rarely hear from him.
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