Inner Cosmos with David Eagleman Ep77 "What is Life?"
Sep 23, 2024
David Eagleman hosts Sara Walker, a theoretical physicist from Arizona State University and author of "Life as No One Knows It." Together, they dive into the perplexing definitions of life and what distinguishes the living from the inanimate. The conversation flirts with ancient philosophies, assembly theory, and the hypothetical discovery of a cell phone on Mars. They explore the complexity of potential extraterrestrial life and the nuances between human intelligence and AI, ultimately challenging listeners to redefine their understanding of existence.
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Ancient Views on Life
- Ancient philosophers like Aristotle and Empedocles conceived life as a balance of elemental forces or souls animating matter. - These early ideas laid the groundwork for later biological thinking about what differentiates living from non-living.
Blurred Boundaries of Life
- Life on Earth shares the same atomic elements as non-living matter, making the distinction challenging at a fundamental level. - Viruses blur the line too, since they reproduce but lack independent metabolism and response to stimuli.
Rethinking Life Beyond Earth
- Biology definitions of life are Earth-centric and may fail for alien life forms. - We need deeper, more abstract descriptions that transcend terrestrial biochemistry.