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From: sa209@utb.shv.hb.se (Claes Andersson)
Subject: Re: "What is Life?"
Message-ID: <1995Feb1.194456.18179@gdunix.gd.chalmers.se>
Keywords: life definition
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References: <davidovi-2001951930150001@aron210b.dorm.tulane.edu> <1995Jan26.153830.4455@gdunix.gd.chalmers.se> <3gbhj1$klg@engnews2.eng.sun.com> <3gf43d$dvt@news.tamu.edu>
Date: Thu, 2 Feb 1995 02:03:10 GMT
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sinala@cs.tamu.edu (Sam Inala) wrote:
>Thus spake holtz@netcord.Eng.Sun.COM (Brian Holtz):
>>In article <1995Jan26.153830.4455@gdunix.gd.chalmers.se>,
>>Claes Andersson <sa209@utb.shv.hb.se> wrote:
>>> I believe the simplest way of defining life is simply: "Something
>>> that maintains a low entropy in an environment of high entropy."
>>
>>A tornado is alive?  I think not.
>>Life is the ability to reproduce and evolve.  [..]
>
>I admit that I like the entropic definition.  I first encountered
>it the book _Genesis Redux_ (a good introduction to a-life.)
>Note that it does not lead to a binary classification (e.g.
>a tornado is/is not alive) but rather a continuuum.  The ratio
>of low to high entropy measures the degree to which something lives.

 Yepp, that's where I saw it too. Thank you.. I couldn't recall it.

Claes Andersson. University of Bors. Sweden


