I have been thinking lately how our subjective measurements and evaluations of spacetime influence what we perceive to be life. The way I was educated life was characterized as animals, plants, fungi, etc... I am beginning to reassess my most fundamental beliefs on this subject. I think life is bound far too often as a humanly observable phenomenon. Life has been defined, at least in my culture, as a word describing that which "lives" within a timeline that my species can observe and understand.
My idea is that all of existence "lives". All things process, exchange, and function inherently by presence of energy. Imagine briefly that solar systems were the building blocks necessary for the life of a galaxy. We would relatively be particles. Our energy would be necessary for this lifeform in a collective sense. Like particles, we are unpredictable to any specific point, but to some galactic biology professor our spacial coordinates are not as important as the fact that we are functioning within balance of energy exchange. I can also imagine the illustration scaled down very much but ultimately Im sure you understand my message.
To recap. I think the universe is living. It is comprised of entities in vast arrangements of scale that all possess the qualities of life we egotistically limit to that which we understand. To exist is to "live".
Concerning the definition of life... Some descriptions are in nature murky enough to allow much interpretation. Im offering my perspective on the issue. Im speaking to the connotation this word holds within my culture.
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I felt the urge to address scale once more. I have heard scientists referring to star formations as "huge" or "enormous". I understand their use of the adjectives. Of course from our relative stance this is accurate. Relativity however seems a keyword for what I want to point out in regards to this line of thought. Life so often is restricted to our relative measure of objects advantaging in a timeline we can witness. As common as that restriction is the impulse to relate what is living to a spatial scale that we are familiar with.
Given that all functions relatively, why not acknowledge more so that life is the expression of energy experienced by existence?
By the way... If my thoughts here match an already established system of belief let me know! I know these thoughts are original to myself 'course, but if I am behind some curve I would like to gather insight from other like minded people. I am always tinkering with ideas concerning our perceptions of reality. Beyond high school I am uneducated by accredited institutions. I want to go to school eventually but that's a personal tale I can tell anyone who wants to message me. I know I have much to learn, and as I learn I will only learn how little I know.
This subject excites me so much. Conceptually I value these ideas greatly; if they come across as filtered through some sense of conceited expression I hope you can understand I only mean to illustrate my thoughts on how we perceive life! I find growth in these thoughts. Hope we can all offer growth in this topic!