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Discussion
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Philosophy 101
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living and non living things
| Philosophy 101 |
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living and non living things |
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The Great Onion Junior Member
since 2008-06-05
Posts 40 |
this week's topic will be on the question of living things. according to the law of all living organisms, living things must have these five traits; a body composed of at least one cell, (with the exception of viruses) must have the ability to adapt to their surrounding environment, rely on an energy source, the ability to reproduce, and maintain homeostasis within it's own body. but lets say that a person mutualates his body in a fatal car crash and every single part of his body was removed (that is, including his brain) and his personality and all the aspects of his mind is installed into a mainframe computer which is thus then installed into a body of a robot; or a robot had a glitchy processer and the error earns the robot its own personality; would then the rules of all living organisms have exceptions to different scenarios? remember to be courteous and kind to others; people have their opinions, and you have yours  |
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| © Copyright 2008 The Great Onion - All Rights Reserved | |||
Stephanos
since 2000-07-31
Posts 3618Statesboro, GA, USA |
Wow, I hope I someday get to determine "This weeks topic". I'm waiting for such a promotion.  But when I do It'll probably already be last week's topic.  |
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The Great Onion Junior Member
since 2008-06-05
Posts 40 |
lol, how bout' this. if you can make an opinion so persuasive to the point where no one can justify it, you can choose the topic. and frankly to be fair to all, this will now be considered some sort of contest of persuasion. replies give me the best ideas sometimes...  |
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Huan Yi Member Ascendant
since 2004-10-12
Posts 6688Waukegan |
. ". . . with the exception of viruses)" Why this exception? . |
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The Great Onion Junior Member
since 2008-06-05
Posts 40 |
because viruses are not composed of cells, they have protein coats covering their genetic information (DNA and/or RNA). the virus has every classification of a living organism except the composition of cells (which is why i put the exception notice next to the cell composition part).  |
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serenity blaze Member Empyrean
since 2000-02-02
Posts 27738 |
"according to the law of all living organisms"--um, and this exclusive group, I must assume, just so happens to agree upon the collective traits of "life"? cite your sources, Horalgio?  Seriously, I"m interested. |
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The Great Onion Junior Member
since 2008-06-05
Posts 40 |
lol, i didnt get the info from a source. i learned about this kind of stuff when i was in 6th grade; but i know somewhere where you can get this kind of stuff though, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life im glad people are getting in touch with my topics nowadays |
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serenity blaze Member Empyrean
since 2000-02-02
Posts 27738 |
Well, that's a source. (So is the 6th grade, btw.) But like Huan Yi, I was confused (and a bit annoyed by your inclusion of a "virus" as a dead thing.) Y'see, I happen to have spent a lot of time, money, and considerable suffering trying to "kill" one of those. So using your source, I looked up "virus", and it seems it is a quibbling point to some: "Some consider them non-living as they do not meet all the criteria used in the common definitions of life. For example, unlike most organisms, viruses do not have cells. However, viruses have genes and evolve by natural selection. Others have described them as organisms at the edge of life." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virus I maintain if you have to "kill" something that is replicating, then the damned thing is alive. But thank you for your good humor and patience. And just for the record--I won that "war".  Um, this time.  |
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Stephanos
since 2000-07-31
Posts 3618Statesboro, GA, USA |
quote: LOL. Stands to reason methinks. Stephen |
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Ron
Administrator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-05-19
Posts 8669Michigan, US |
quote: Bram Stoker would likely have disagreed. |
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serenity blaze Member Empyrean
since 2000-02-02
Posts 27738 |
Well then. Let's just fictionalize um, "me arse?" ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....it's funny now.  |
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Bob K Member Elite
since 2007-11-03
Posts 4208 |
Prions are worth an examination when thinking about alive/not alive distinctions. Prions are a form of protein. The prion enters a cell, bonds to a "normal" variant of itself found in almost every living cell and proceeds to refold the protein from its regular helical shape into a different but stable sheet shape. It seems to have a preference for neural tissue. It doesn't add or subtract anything from the original protein but functions, according to the NIH high school teacher's guide, like a transformer toy. The result is what's typically called some form of "spongiform encephalopathy." The nervous tissue develops holes throughout. Mad Cow Disease, scrapies, Creutzfeld-Jacobson's disease and others are the result. These proteins are transmissible, they replicate, if they were not able to adapt, then they would not have been able to have forms able to infect so many different species, including fungi, apparently, at this point. What seems particularly interesting is that the protein can be synthesized in the laboratory, from scratch, first in its non-infectious and then in its infectious forms. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prion If true, it's possible that this information may have something to say to those who hold a literal belief in the biblical story of creation. I do not; and still I found the news a bit of a shock, that anybody might have knocked together anything even approaching life in a laboratory seemed to me altogether fantastical. Not to mention the possibility of a new Kingdom of life: Plants, Animals, Viruses, Prions. Of course, I may be wildly off base. Thoughts? Yours in a daze, BobK. |
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oceanvu2 Senior Member
since 2007-02-24
Posts 1066Santa Monica, California, USA |
Arrogant nonsense. My "topic" for this week is moving from one side of the state to the other. You are welcome to YOUR topic for any week, but how can you possibly presume it is of interest to anyone else? Jim |
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