Discussion Points on the topic of what defines a living organism from college biology course.
Alexander Anaya Ashe
SCI206 American InterContinental University
SCI206 American InterContinental University
- Make comparisons between living things and nonliving things that have some of the characteristics that define life.
I am majoring in IT so this is a great
opportunity to bring up how a computer can simulate a living thing. A computer
has many of the eight characteristics of life. It can maintain its homeostasis
via internal fans and software. A
computer consumes energy and depending on the technology incorporated, can even
utilize solar energy. A computer
responds to stimuli based on its programing and incorporated hardware.
Though we are getting closer every day currently computers do not adhere to all of the eight characteristics of life as we do not yet have the technology to make computers grow, reproduce, or evolve on their own. Additionally even if we did could make a computer that could grow, reproduce and evolve this iPinocchio would still lack two very important characteristic before it could be a real live boy.
Though we are getting closer every day currently computers do not adhere to all of the eight characteristics of life as we do not yet have the technology to make computers grow, reproduce, or evolve on their own. Additionally even if we did could make a computer that could grow, reproduce and evolve this iPinocchio would still lack two very important characteristic before it could be a real live boy.
Cells and DNA, without these
characteristics no matter how closely a computer simulated a living thing it
could never truly be alive.
- Compare the following pairs and explain what the differences are using the 8 criteria:
A rock to a snail
In comparison of a rock to a snail it
is quite easy to determine which is alive without much experimentation. If you
were to watch a snail and a rock long enough you would generally see that a
snail adheres to all eight characteristics of life, while the rock adheres to
none.
A rock is not made of cells, it does not grow, reproduce, evolve, control its own temperature (Homeostasis), it has no organized genetic code, and does not seek or metabolize energy. Lastly no matter what you try, a rock (even a pet rock) will not respond to stimuli.
A rock to a tree
A tree being alive is not as obvious,
but you can see some signs of the eight characteristics of life with the naked
eye. If you have ever been in the forest after it has snowed you may have
noticed that the snow will cover the rocks but the trees will maintain an empty
space between the snow and themselves. This is because the tree maintains
homeostasis and the tree’s temperature is warmer than the snow.
A dog to a TV
Both dogs and TVs are entertaining but
a dog adheres to all eight characteristics of life while a TV only has a
couple. For example a TV consumes energy and responds to stimuli but sadly does
not reproduce or grow.
Before science fire was thought of as
having life, my assumption would be that this is because upon observation of
fire it appears to have characteristics of life. So much so that many phrases
associated with fire are still used today such as “feed” a fire.
With just observation you can see that
a fire seeks additional energy sources and if given fuel it then grows. If you
were not so educated perhaps you could even interpret this quick growth as
reproduction?
Additionally if you add water or air you can see fire react to stimuli. And lastly fire appears to have its own temperature unrelated to other objects around it.
Additionally if you add water or air you can see fire react to stimuli. And lastly fire appears to have its own temperature unrelated to other objects around it.
References
Editorial
Board. (2015). BIOLOGY. Words of Wisdom. Retrieved from
The Science of Biology. (n.d). Biology Corner.
Retrieved
from http://www.biologycorner.com/bio1/notes_ch1.html
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