What is life in ordinary words? What is life

General properties that all living organisms have. Basic definitions of the essence of life. Hypotheses that arise at different times regarding the appearance of life on earth. The theory of chemical evolution or prebiotic evolution. Taxonomy of living nature.

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For many centuries, humanity has been searching for an answer to the question of what life is. Perhaps, even today this question remains one of the most important, because the answer to it is by no means always unambiguous. Scientists have discovered that all living things are partially composed of protoplasm. The chemical formula of protoplasm has long been known, and even methods have been found for combining molecules of other elements to obtain this amazing substance. But bodies created on the basis of artificial protoplasm still do not come to life. That is why a person still has to collect a lot of information about various living beings and find what is common to all living organisms.

Let's see what common properties all living organisms have. Firstly, all life on earth grows. So, for example, a kitten turns into a cat, and an oak tree grows from an acorn. For some, the growth process itself proceeds very quickly, for others, such as Canadian mammoth trees, it lasts several thousand years.

Secondly, all living beings are capable of healing wounds on themselves, and sometimes even replacing damaged parts of the body. Thus, a lobster grows a new one in place of a severed claw; in humans, the skin is constantly renewed, bones grow; in trees, instead of old leaves, new ones appear in the spring. Another general property of all living beings on earth - their ability to reproduce. If living organisms could not produce offspring, they would have died out long ago. Animals, fish, insects, and plants reproduce. Living things can quickly adapt to environment. Man does this better than animals and plants, because man is a rational being and is capable of thinking. Living organisms also respond to external stimuli. Therefore, the plants stretch towards the sun. And even a person, sensing the smell of delicious food, instantly reacts by feeling hungry. Everything we were able to talk about, unfortunately, does not yet provide a comprehensive answer to the question of what life is. However, the knowledge gained will help you understand what is considered alive and what is not.

Life -- active form existence of matter, in a sense higher than its physical and chemical forms of existence.

The main attribute of living matter is genetic information used for replication. The development of living nature led to the emergence of humanity.

Also, the word “life” refers to the period of existence of an individual organism from the moment of its emergence until its death.

Living is something that satisfies its own needs by actively analyzing and using environmental conditions. Available big number definitions of the concept “life”, reflecting different approaches. Numerous definitions of the essence of life can be reduced to three main ones.

According to the first approach, life is determined by the carrier of its properties (for example, protein);

according to the second approach, life is considered as a set of specific physical and chemical processes.

And finally, the third approach is to determine the minimum possible set of mandatory properties, without which no life is possible.

Life can be defined as the active maintenance and self-reproduction of a specific structure, which involves the expenditure of energy received from outside. According to the views of one of the founders of thanatology, M. Bisha, life is a set of phenomena that resist death.

Friedrich Engels gave the following definition: “Life is a way of existence of protein bodies, the essential point of which is the constant exchange of substances with the external nature surrounding them, and with the cessation of this metabolism, life also ceases, which leads to the decomposition of the protein.”

V.N. Parmon gave the following definition: “Life is a phase-separated form of existence of functioning autocatalysts that are capable of chemical mutations and have undergone a fairly long evolution due to natural selection.”

There are also cybernetic definitions of life. According to the definition of A.A. Lyapunov, life is “a highly stable state of matter that uses information encoded by the states of individual molecules to develop conservation reactions.” Life (or a viable system) can be defined as a system containing ordered and distributed steady-state, cycle-limited nonlinear oscillators, as well as an associated system of algorithmic control mechanisms, capable of adjusting its internal conditions to external conditions.

Life is qualitatively superior to other forms of existence of matter in terms of the diversity and complexity of chemical components and the dynamics of transformations occurring in living things. Living systems are characterized by much more high level structural and functional orderliness in space and time. Living systems exchange energy, matter and information with the environment, thus being open systems. At the same time, unlike inanimate systems, there is no equalization of energy differences and restructuring of structures towards more probable forms, but work “against equilibrium” continuously occurs. This is the basis for erroneous statements that living systems allegedly do not obey the second law of thermodynamics. However, a decrease in entropy in living systems is possible only by increasing entropy in the environment (negentropy), so that in general the process of increasing entropy continues, which is quite consistent with the requirements of the second law of thermodynamics.

The emergence of life

IN different time The following hypotheses have been put forward regarding the origin of life on Earth:

Biochemical evolution hypothesis

Panspermia hypothesis

Stationary State of Life Hypothesis

Spontaneous generation hypothesis

The spontaneous generation and steady state hypotheses are of historical or philosophical interest only, since the results scientific research they are refuted.

The panspermia hypothesis does not solve the fundamental question of the origin of life; it only pushes it into the even more nebulous past of the Universe, although it cannot be excluded as a hypothesis about the beginning of life on Earth.

Thus, the only generally accepted hypothesis in science at present is the hypothesis of biochemical evolution.

The theory of chemical evolution or prebiotic evolution is the first stage in the evolution of life, during which organic, prebiotic substances arose from inorganic molecules under the influence of external energetic and selection factors and due to the deployment of self-organization processes inherent in all relatively complex systems, which undoubtedly are all carbon-containing molecules.

These terms also denote the theory of the emergence and development of those molecules that are of fundamental importance for the emergence and development of living matter.

Everything that is known about the chemistry of a substance allows us to limit the problem of chemical evolution. within the so-called framework “water-carbon chauvinism”, which postulates that life in our Universe is represented in the only possible option: as a “method of existence of protein bodies”, realized due to the unique combination of the polymerization properties of carbon and the depolarizing properties of the liquid-phase aqueous medium, as jointly necessary and/or sufficient conditions for the emergence and development of all forms of life known to us. This implies that, at least within one formed biosphere, there can only be one heredity code common to all living beings of a given biota, but for now it remains open question, whether there are other biospheres outside the Earth and whether other variants of the genetic apparatus are possible.

It is also unknown when and where chemical evolution began. Any timing is possible after the end of the second cycle of star formation, which occurred after the condensation of the products of explosions of primary supernovae, supplying heavy elements (with an atomic mass of more than 26) into interstellar space. The second generation of stars, already with planetary systems enriched in heavy elements, which are necessary for the implementation of chemical evolution. appeared 0.5-1.2 billion years after big bang. If certain quite probable conditions are met, for the launch of H.E. Almost any environment can be suitable: the depths of the oceans, the interiors of planets, their surfaces, protoplanetary formations and even clouds of interstellar gas, which is confirmed by the widespread detection in space by astrophysics methods of many types of organic substances - aldehydes, alcohols, sugars and even the amino acid glycine, which together can serve as the starting material for chemical energy, which has as its final result the emergence of life.

life evolution prebiotic

Taxonomy of wildlife

An organism is the basic unit of life, the real bearer of its properties, since life processes occur only in the cells of the body. As a separate individual, the organism is part of the species and population, being a structural unit of the population-species standard of living.

The world of living beings has several million species. All this diversity of organisms is studied by biological systematics, the main task of which is to build a system of the organic world.

Wildlife is now generally divided into eight kingdoms: viruses, protists, archaea, chromists, bacteria, fungi, plants and animals.

Bibliography

Life. European Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron.

Chernavsky Dmitry Sergeevich 2000 “The problem of the origin of life and thinking from the point of view of modern physics.” Advances in physical sciences T.170. No. 2. art. 157-183.

Romanov Sergey Fedorovich 2010 “Truths of the 21st century” (3rd edition) St. Petersburg, art. 33-86.

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The definitions of life are what cannot be

Figures from a variety of scientific and non-scientific fields have tried to define the concept of life. For example:

4 main stages of human life

What is life in context human existence? Many are looking for the meaning of their stay on planet Earth, and not finding it, they become despondent.

Or it happens that you seem to have found it - here it is, just stretch out your hand! But you can’t get it, your arms are short - and then why live?

In fact, not everything is so sad if you know at least the approximate structure of life, its stages. Having in hand ready-made instructions and being prepared for future events makes going much more fun.

Human life consists of 4 stages:

Imitation stage (lasts until age 18): The child is born helpless. He doesn’t know anything and doesn’t know how - Blank sheet, on which a certain picture will subsequently appear. Nobody knows what it will be like.
This depends on many circumstances - starting from who his parents are, and who will accompany him all his life.
Gradually, the baby learns to walk, talk, absorb, and adapt among people. All this comes into his life through imitation, the purpose of which is to transform into an adult, independent person ().

But it happens that an individual grows physically, but continues to imitate those around him, depend on their opinions and try to please.
Stage of self-knowledge (up to 25-35 years) is to find your difference from others. Who am I? And how do I differ from the majority of people? Why am I me and not someone else?
At this stage, a person acts a lot, experiments, and, of course, makes mistakes in attempts to isolate his unique nature. We stumble upon our own prohibitions, instilled in us at the first stage: some of them break, new ones are born.
We learn to hear ourselves and our real desires, throwing aside everything unnecessary and preserving what is valuable. We find our weak and strong points, trying to strengthen the first and develop the second as much as possible.

You can get stuck here if you never learn to admit your weaknesses, mistakes and get rid of blind faith in what is desired, but unreal.
Stage of accomplishment (from 40 years to tired old age)- by this moment a person knows himself well, he is honest with himself, and therefore stops dreaming of pipe dreams and being in illusions.
Next to him there are no longer friends who only seemed so, unloved spouses, hated work and everything else that only pulled him down and did not cause much joy.
You know who you are and what you do best. Therefore, this is the time when people begin to actively reveal their potential and self-actualize. Perhaps you will come up with something new and ingenious, or maybe you will understand that your purpose is simply to be a good parent. Everything is purely.

Getting stuck at this stage occurs if a person has failed.
The last stage of life is called legacy (after 60-70 years). This is the period when people look back, analyze its contents, evaluate their efforts and life baggage. Physical and energy health they no longer allow us to only move forward and create new global goals.
This period is very important from a psychological point of view. If a person is happy with how she has lived most of the time allotted to her, then she is not afraid to leave. The feeling of accomplishment and a life well lived calms anxiety before the inevitable end.

Otherwise, the person will suffer and regret the wasted years. This happens for the reason that we, consciously or not, are looking for some meaning in our existence, which we strive to translate into reality.

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What is life? It would seem a very simple question to which each of us knows the answer. After all, we all live, exist for a certain period of time, and then leave this world. Therefore, this concept is not new for us.

However, when you start to think about this question, the answer seems not nearly as obvious as previously thought. The fact is that, most likely, deciphering this concept cannot be achieved only with the help of words. It is somewhere inside each of us, somewhere in the soul and heart.

If we turn to scientific interpretations, the definition of life sounds something like this: “This is a way of existence biological organisms the entire planet and an individual organism.” Biology gives us this decoding. If we summarize all the proposed explanations given by scientists in one field or another, it becomes clear that life is a form of active “presence” of an organism on Earth.

Let's think about what life is, relying only on our natural ideas, without involving theory. Many people believe that we live because we exist. But is it? who would argue with this.

Imagine a standard situation that can happen to anyone: problems at work, the family is collapsing, relationships with children are not working out... This simple circuit, which occurs very often. And that person who stands in its center believes that he does not LIVE at all, but simply EXISTS! So what is life in this case? Life is also in the soul. After all, for each of us there are certain concepts necessary for happiness, that is, for a harmonious existence. For some it is love, for others it is work, and for many it is family and children. The list can be continued indefinitely, but this is not what is important here: you just need to understand what you need so that your life does not turn into a miserable existence.

Now let's think about why the concept of “Life” is so difficult to decipher. All the words with which we appeal when analyzing our earthly existence were invented by us ourselves, that is, people. However, the meaning that is put into them cannot be put into simple human expressions. It is hidden somewhere deep, inside the concept, and we cannot fully explain it.

For example, many people simply do not trust the scientific explanations that scientists offer us. They rely only on their inner feelings. Laws are made only for those who accept them. The rest live according to the dictates of their hearts and conscience. Maybe this would be completely correct if we knew how to carefully “listen” to ourselves, and, most importantly, “hear.” We do not always interpret the signals that the body gives us correctly.

Therefore, in order to understand what life is for you, first of all, turn to your inner “I”, ask it what you need for happiness and harmony. After all, if you receive the correct answers to your questions and can decipher them, then your earthly existence will be filled with meaning. If you really need to get an answer to this question, then you still don’t see the full meaning in your life. Otherwise, such thoughts would not occur to you.

The smile of a child, the joy of meeting a loved one, a promotion, the health of parents - this is what evokes in each of us a storm of positive emotions and a feeling of fullness of life. Exactly full existence turns us into a person who is able to appreciate the world and what happens to her. Know how to see happiness, enjoy it, feel it, because this is life as it is! After all, it is emotions that make us full-fledged residents of society and people in general. So let's match! Although it is very difficult!

As a starter, some information from Wikipedia:

Life is an active form of existence of matter, in a sense higher than its physical and chemical forms of existence; a set of physical and chemical processes occurring in a cell, allowing for metabolism and its division (life does not exist outside the cell, viruses exhibit the properties of living matter only after the transfer of genetic material into the cell). By adapting to its environment, a living cell forms the entire diversity of living organisms. The main attribute of living matter is genetic information used for replication.

The concept of “life” can be more or less accurately defined only by listing the qualities that distinguish it from non-life. There is currently no consensus on the concept of life, but scientists generally accept that the biological manifestation of life is characterized by: organization, metabolism, growth, adaptation, response to stimuli, and reproduction. We can also say that life is a characteristic of the state of the organism.

Also, the word “life” refers to the period of existence of an individual organism from the moment of its emergence until its death.

Definitions

There are a large number of definitions of the concept “life”, reflecting different approaches. Numerous definitions of the essence of life can be reduced to three main ones. According to the first approach, life is determined by the carrier of its properties (for example, protein); according to the second approach, life is considered as a set of specific physical and chemical processes. And finally, the third approach is to determine the minimum possible set of mandatory properties, without which no life is possible.

Life can be defined as the active maintenance and self-reproduction of a molecular structure, which involves the expenditure of energy received from outside.

Russian scientist M.V. Volkenstein gave a new definition to the concept of life: “Living bodies that exist on Earth are open, self-regulating and self-reproducing systems built from biopolymers - proteins and nucleic acids” [source not specified 822 days].

According to the views of one of the founders of thanatology, M. Bisha, life is a set of phenomena that resist death.

From the point of view of the second law of thermodynamics, life is a process, or a system, the vector of development of which is opposite in direction to the rest, “non-living” objects of the universe, and is aimed at reducing its own entropy (see Heat death).

According to Ozanger and Morowitz (English) Russian: “Life is a property of matter, leading to the conjugate circulation of bioelements in the aquatic environment, driven, ultimately, by the energy of solar radiation along the path of increasing complexity”

There are also cybernetic definitions of life. According to A. A. Lyapunov’s definition, life is “a highly stable state of matter that uses information encoded by the states of individual molecules to develop conservation reactions.”

There is also a physiological definition of life, given in 1929 by A.F. Samoilov, which was not fully explored by the great scientist:

“Life is a vicious circle of reflex activity.” Gap of this circle in any place (the “coma” state) means a sharp limitation of life parameters or even the absence of life. Now we can somewhat expand this concept and indicate the reasons on which this “vicious circle” depends. Namely: the state external environment, the “power of will” of the individual, the internal vegetative principles of the body, not subject to the “power of will”. Let us note that the concept of “power of will” was also introduced into scientific circulation by A.F. Samoilov.

What is life in ordinary words? What is life

General properties that all living organisms have. Basic definitions of the essence of life. Hypotheses that arise at different times regarding the appearance of life on earth. The theory of chemical evolution or prebiotic evolution. Taxonomy of living nature.

Send your good work in the knowledge base is simple. Use the form below

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