Dive into the intriguing exploration of life's meaning amidst societal turmoil and personal beliefs. Reflect on energy, structure, and the role of homeostasis in living organisms. Discover how meaning and purpose evolve through the complexity of life, from bacteria to humans, and the impact of self-awareness. Delve into the interplay of morality, personal values, and conscious choices in crafting a meaningful existence. Finally, embrace challenges as catalysts for growth and understanding in a world filled with diverse aspirations.
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insights INSIGHT
Life as a Process
Life is a physical process, not a substance or fluid.
Living beings maintain structure through change, unlike inanimate objects.
insights INSIGHT
Schrödinger's Definition of Life
Life, according to Erwin Schrödinger, persists beyond its expected duration.
Living beings actively maintain their structure by using free energy, unlike inanimate objects.
insights INSIGHT
Homeostasis and Information Exchange
Homeostasis, maintaining a stable internal state, is crucial for life.
Living beings achieve homeostasis by exchanging information and energy with their environment.
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The Really Hard Problem: Meaning in a Material World
Owen Flanagan
In 'The Really Hard Problem: Meaning in a Material World', Owen Flanagan addresses the challenge of explaining how meaning is possible in a purely material world. He proposes a naturalistic approach, drawing on philosophy, neuroscience, evolutionary biology, and psychology, as well as nontheistic spiritual traditions like Buddhism and Stoicism. Flanagan's concept of 'eudaimonics' seeks to understand human flourishing through a systematic, science-aligned inquiry.
The big picture
Derek Monsey
What Is Life?
Erwin Schrödinger
Written for the lay reader, 'What Is Life?' is based on a series of public lectures delivered by Erwin Schrödinger in 1943 at Trinity College, Dublin. The book addresses the fundamental question of how living organisms can be understood in terms of their molecular and atomic structure. Schrödinger discusses the stability of genes, the concept of 'negative entropy,' and how life maintains order despite the second law of thermodynamics. He also speculates on the role of mutations, the nature of consciousness, and the philosophical implications of his findings. The book had a significant impact on the development of modern biology, influencing scientists such as James D. Watson and Francis Crick in their discovery of the DNA structure.
A podcast only hits the century mark once! And for Mindscape, this is it. There have been holiday messages and bonus episodes and the like. But this is the 100th officially-numbered episode. To celebrate, I decided to treat myself to a solo episode in which I reflect, somewhat non-systematically, on the age-old question of the meaning of life. I end up spending a lot (most?) of the time talking about the meaning of “life,” i.e. what it means to be a living organism in a naturalistic universe. But then I go on to muse about the construction of human meaning in a world where values are not imposed on us or objectively grounded in physical facts.
I think life does have meaning, and it’s important to understand what forms it might take. I settle largely on the idea that humans can conceive of different possible futures, assign value to them, and work against the natural order of things to create something that otherwise would not have been. This is far from the final word, even in my own mind; it’s an invitation to think and converse in a reasonable way about some of the biggest questions there are. Just like the podcast in general.
Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas 
