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What is living? - an unresolved paradox of Science

What is living? - an unresolved paradox of Science


What is Life? What does it mean to be alive?This question seems to be asking for an obvious answer. But it is not. There is currently no consensus amongst scientists regarding the definition of life. The definition of life has long been a challenge for scientists and philosophers, with many varied definitions put forward.This is partially because life is a process, not a substance.


It is rather odd that while the whole foundation of what we call life science is based on ‘life’ we do not exactly have a clear definition of it. How science can proceed to investigate a phenomenon when it does not have a clear cut understanding of what it is investigating.


“The wonderful thing about biology is that there’s so much that is still undiscovered,” said Allan Jones, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of the Allen Institute.

There is no unequivocal definition of life. Most definitions of life in biology are descriptive rather than definitive. Life is considered as a characteristic of something that preserves, furthers or reinforces its existence in the given environment. Life is defined in the most simplistic terms as a characteristic that distinguishes physical entities that have biological processes from those that don’t. Our biological cell is considered to be the fundamental building block of life. One most popular definition of Life is that it is composed of organisms which are open systems that maintain homeostasis, are composed of cells, have a life cycle, undergo metabolism, can grow, adopt to their environment, respond to stimuli, reproduce and evolve.


Life is considered as a characteristic of something that preserves, furthers or reinforces its existence in the given environment.
Characteristics of being Alive

When it comes to Viruses, scientists are perplexed to definitively classify it either as living or as a non-living thing. Consensus is that Viruses are non-living things. It is more of a compromise than a solution. As per science, viruses are proteins and genetic material that survive and replicate within their environment inside another life form. In the absence of their host, viruses are unable to replicate and many are unable to survive for long in the extracellular environment. In such a scenario, scientists are unable to give it a clean certificate of being ‘alive’. For about 100 years, the scientific community has repeatedly changed its collective mind over what viruses are. First seen as poisons, then as life-forms, then biological chemicals, viruses today are thought of as being in a gray area between living and nonliving.



Our biological cells are a universe in themselves. They perform complex functions and have multiple organelles (tiny organs) inside them which perform various functions. Each cell is like a full fledged factory by itself, having various departments performing various functions.
Inside our biological cell

Our biological cells are a universe in themselves. They perform complex functions and have multiple organelles (tiny organs) inside them which perform various functions. Each cell is like a full fledged factory by itself, having various departments performing various functions. However these organelles are not considered as ‘living’ as per the scientific definition of life. It means the workers working inside this factory are considered as persona non grata while the factory itself is recognised as an independent entity.

In Sri Anand Yoga (SAY), we consider even a tiniest life form performing any function as living.

All viruses as well as organelles inside of biological cells are considered as having a life.Instead of drawing a line between living and non-living objects, SAY considers life to be an ‘emerging’ process from inanimate to animate with no watertight compartment. Even a human being is not considered as a final product of evolution. Human being is also an emerging life form for something higher level life form which is work in process stage at present.


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