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From: eyala@applicom.co.il (Eyal Alaluf)
Subject: Re: Thought Question
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Date: Thu, 2 Feb 1995 15:43:37 GMT
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Xref: glinda.oz.cs.cmu.edu comp.ai.philosophy:25161 comp.ai:27015

Hi, I have been following this thread lately, and of course I felt I had to
respond.

I would like to suggest a definition to what we consider as a form of life.
I do not attempt to define what life itself is, but only what we consider as
life.

I would say that something is live if I cannot predict its behaviour according
to physical laws, no matter what data I have. When we say that something is
alive, it means that it has a will of its own. It may not be aware of its own
will, but it is there all the same.
Think of it for a moment. In the old world we had no explanations for the
powers of nature around us - storms, sun, moon, etc. So people, in complete
accordance with the above definition, thought that these powers were alive,
and worshipped them as gods. As soon as people THOUGHT they had an explanation
for these powers they stopped regarding the powers of nature as alive.

Now, assuming my definition, (which must be controversal), I will try to utilize
it.
If we consider the particles in the atom, we see that Quantum Physics says that
we cannot predict the location and moment of say an electrone, no matter what
information we have. Conclusion - The electrone is alive!
EVERYTHING is alive.
Some systems sugment the natural forces of life within them - e.g. a dog,
a human, etc. Others diminish the life force within them - e.g. rocks,
machines, ...
In most cases the interrelations between particles reduce the inherent
uncertainty about them, and in some cases it increases it.
So the question is not whether something is alive, but HOW MUCH is it alive.
All of this of course, within the our current understanding of nature.

I am not that big on Quantum Physics so feel free to correct me on that.

Please email eyala@applicom.co.il

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    Eyal Alaluf                                eyala@applicom.co.il
    Mainsoft Israel Ltd.                       c/o Applicom Systems Ltd.
                                               16 Abba Hillel Silver St.
    Phone : 972 -(3) 575 5550 ext : 1287       Ramat-Gan, 52506
    Fax   : 972 -(3) 751 5906                  Israel
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