Questions and Ponderings On “Life” It’s ALIVE! Questions and Ponderings On “Life”

Question… What is life? What does it mean to be alive? How is something made “living”?

Each of these questions is important and pertinent to the idea of “Life”. Scientists have identified nine basic characteristics of life. For something to be described as living, that something must display all nine of these characteristics. Although many different people have many different opinions about what "living" means, the following characteristics were designated "characteristics of living things" with the consensus of the scientific community.

The 9 Criteria of Life Living things are composed of basic units called cells Living things are based on a universal genetic code Living things have different levels of organization Living things obtain and use materials and energy Living things grow and develop Living things reproduce Living things respond and adapt to their environment (stimuli) Living things to maintain a stable internal environment Living things change over time…

So then, what can be called “alive” Atoms & Molecules? Rocks? Grass? Viruses? Bacteria? Computers? Artificially Intelligent Machines?

…Maybe it’s not as easy to justify life as we thought… So let’s manufacture a computer… We can manufacture the hardware, but much of this process is automated. So when "we manufacture", we actually do some of the processes and leg work needed to manufacture computers, but most of the complexity is handled by automated systems (i.e. computers).

The software manages the masks laid out in the processor, that builds the memory devices, and guides wafers through the system. So the software actually sets up the OS, the applications, the preferences, the screen savers. In fact, while it seems that “we install” software, all we really do is just provide a few prompts. Even in very complicated installs, the number of values and files installed by the software vastly dwarfs the parameters supplied by the person doing the installation. So if a computer can be said to “build itself” then it does so using a huge number of processes and components already built for it.

But do we “living” beings build ourselves? Do we use a huge number of processes and components supplied to us? In fact, we do rely on a vast set of supplied parts! We rely on information provided to us by the DNA of our parents – our own personal OS. We eat other organisms and use the building blocks they provide (proteins, fats, carbohydrates) to build our selves using that OS as a guide.

Instead it is just a matter of degree. So… If we rely on "manufactured parts" from sources outside ourselves, and computers rely on "manufactured parts" outside themselves, And we both rely on OS given to us by an outside programmer Then the difference isn't absolute. Instead it is just a matter of degree. If we are “alive” and require all this outside help to construct and maintain ourselves, can we say computers are not “alive” because they too need outside help to construct and maintain themselves.

What about the other factors of life? Can computers replicate themselves? Yes, they can. The "genes" of a computer system is its software. And software exists as installation files, CDs, disks... We select and install the various software components we want. We don't build applications from the ground up for each computer. Instead, we build one application, build an install file or disk, and then we replicate that.

We take the mix of software we want in a system and we install all of those pieces. And a computer is “born!” Like "genes" in life, we see different software installed on different systems. As a result, you get different behaviors in different systems. If a "gene" (i.e. an application) is really, really advantageous, it gets replicated more often. If a "gene" is really, really useless, it does not get replicated, and it "dies out".

Okay, but do all computers replicate? No. Most just do their job. Does that make them not alive? Well no, most ants don’t replicate either. Only the queen and a few drones replicate. If ants are alive, than all we need to find is a few computers that replicate to consider them alive. And in fact only a few specialized computers manufacture computers, and only a few developer machines generate new software.

Hey, what about evolution? Living things evolve! Do computers evolve? The answer is: Well of course they do! Evolution proceeds by mutation. We don’t invalidate any mutation because of the cause. In other words, just because people manipulate the genes of some organisms doesn’t make the resulting organism un- alive. The fact that people manipulate the “genes” of computers by programming, doesn’t mean they don’t change.

Evolve means “change”. It doesn’t mean “only random change”. Mutation is a difference from one version of a gene in the next generation version of the gene. We don’t write software fresh with every build of an application. We simply introduce change after change, testing at each step, and selecting the changes to keep and which to toss

If we assume that evolution can be a guided process, then the fact that we are active in the evolution of computers doesn’t make them un-alive. So does this mean that Operating Systems are like the DNA of living organisms? Does the computer programmer act as an agent of mutation (like radiation) changing that code and altering the function of the machine? Does the machine replicate and produce new offspring? Does it interact and adapt to its environment?

So if we accept that life is a collection of basic ideas and concepts then what separates life from simply performing a task? Could it be the intelligent design behind the action in the process of “life”? Maybe the ability to recognize one-self and then to be “intelligent”.

Could Intelligence be the determining factor for Life?

What is Intelligence? Intelligence is defined as “the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills”. Or more simply put, it is the ability to learn. So how would intelligence determine “life”? Does the recognition of one’s self help to qualify for life? “I think, therefore I am?”

Intelligence is, first and foremost, a judgment. Intelligence is an estimate of the quality that we attribute to the decision-making and abstract thinking of people around us. Although it may be practical for people to think of intelligence as something that exists, whether science should consider intelligence and how it would define it remains very controversial.

So, could this be the determining factor for “Life”? Is intelligence, the ability to recognize the need and use of the factors for life the key to life itself? If so, then what of artificial intelligence? Where does that lead us in the understanding of life and the future of our society?

Additional Sources Paul Labels www.brainfacts.org July 2013 His posts and speculations on OS and Life www.brainfacts.org July 2013