Biology is said to be the study of life. But this is not really true. In fact, biology is only the study of some kinds of life. Biology, as practiced today, studies living things that are deemed similar to human life in one particular aspect – the possession of organic cellular chemistry characteristics. These characteristics are the use of six atoms (carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur) to form molecules that build cellular membranes, metabolize nutrients and self-replicate in accordance with a chemical code. (part 2 of Hybriduality and Geoethics)
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Posted by
kernfel on 01/31 at 04:52 PM
I’m waiting for the first lunar base to say: Earth is alive. Autonomy is already given (the planet has been very busy in the last couple billion years processing random matter and energy into ordered matter), there are hints of Coopetence (outgoing information, at least, in meaningful bursts of radiation and space probes), and Transcendence - well, it’s a bit of a stretch to call past space programs an influence on the environment of the planet, but really, that’s just a matter of time.
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