Question

Difference between living and non living things
K i know this is a stupid question :D.. but if you look at an atomic level we are both made of atoms..

so the only difference is that living things undergo a chain of chemical reactions.. ? that's what makes us conscious?

Answer 1

a living system has negative entropy

i do not believe all living things have consciousness

Answer 2

could you elaborate !? :O

Answer 3

what do you mean by negative entropy?i don't understand at all.and all living things have consciousness whose conception is currently beyond the scope of physics.

Answer 4

Unkle meant that living things tend to use energy to keep things from being disorganised, but nonliving things don't.

Answer 5

Consciousness (and imagination, and a lot of psychological stuffs) is probably a result of a bunch of superpositions and entanglements.

Answer 6

I get what you say shadowys.. but how do we do it.. ultimately we are just atoms right.. so if you look at an atomic level.. how would you describe how we are different?!.. its only chemical reactions right?

Answer 7

In the most basic level, we are literally made out of the same thing, and chemical reactions are not exclusive to living thing as well.

Answer 8

atoms constitue our physical components only.we have consciousness as well which can't be ignored

Answer 9

athma

Answer 10

@vjha.. thats not true.. there is nothing besides atom.. the consciousness is something that we experience at a macroscopic level..but at a microscopic level.. its all the same.. !!

Answer 11

@Mashy if that's the case tell me what happens when we die?what happens to all the atoms inside the body?

Answer 12

like i said.. what i think is.. the very reason we are alive.. is cause of LOTS of chemical reactions that take place.. that take place as you breath.. that take place which is digesting your food.. and that take place which sends electrical impulses from my brain to all other parts of the body and more.. which actually keeps me alive

when i die.. the brain stops working.. no more the chemical reactions take place.. think about this.. you can keep a person alive on ventilaters even when the brain is dead and heart is dead.. ventilaters keep the body fuctioning. so all you need is continuous supply of energy.. when we die.. we don't get that!!.

Answer 13

how do you describe death?

Answer 14

well.. if your heart stops functioning for some min time, then all the parts of the body dont get the required energy and hence they fail as well.. so thats when death occurs.. so even if you somehow now pump in the blood the different parts of the body are no longer functional.. ofcourse m no bio student.. so this is only a rough guess :D. so doesn't it make sense?

Answer 15

you can't make a dead person 'alive' artificially although you can keep the body partially functioning.being alive is a different thing.

Answer 16

ofcourse you can't make a dead person alive.. cause al the parts of the body have stopped working.. but you can keep him alive on a ventilator