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Subject:
Understand the life and the death
Category: Science Asked by: bourini-ga List Price: $2.00 |
Posted:
07 Feb 2005 14:11 PST
Expires: 09 Mar 2005 14:11 PST Question ID: 470594 |
What is the death mean, and how I'm a live? What is the difference between life and death? |
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Subject:
Re: Understand the life and the death
Answered By: hedgie-ga on 08 Feb 2005 22:53 PST |
There are certainly different views and aspects of this concept. Nevertheless, this $2 question was posted to 'science' and deserves a simple scientific definition as an answer. First definition from physics point of view was given by Schrodinger (of the QM fame) in his 1944 book called "What is Life" http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0521427088/qid=1107930404 His view is described here http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/life/ View changed a little as Complex Systems evolved and difference between carbon based and other form receded a bit. The original (thermodynamical) definition is still accepted: Living system is able to maintain itself in a region of thermodynamical states, which are far from equilibrium. It is (by necessity of the Third Law) an open system which interacts with its environments and extracts negentropy, necessary to keep itself in that meta-stable regimen. During death, system looses this capability and starts to equilibrate with environment (process, often called decay starts at death). Models of life are important topic of Complex System studies, which have created related, but more general concept of Artificial Life, where thermodynamical fitness (ability to compete for negentropy) is replaced by computational selection algorithm (e.g. ability to survive and reproduce in Genetical Algorithm based selection process). Being programmed to reproduce is not a necessary attribute of life - this subclass of general concept can be called 'purposeful life' . The multi-purpose life and life without purpose are rare, they are not excluded. enjoy life Hedgie |
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Subject:
Re: Understand the life and the death
From: pinkfreud-ga on 07 Feb 2005 14:21 PST |
Here's an interesting article about the changing views on the definition of "death": http://www.miracosta.edu/home/lmoon/wk3death.html |
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Re: Understand the life and the death
From: armagossa-ga on 08 Feb 2005 00:01 PST |
Death means your heart and brain stop responding. You are alive because those two organs is still functioning. Why is it still functioning? Because you have an "unseen and unmeasurable substance" inside of you, called "The Soul". What is the difference between life and death? What do you mean, you dont know the difference? Go to a funeral and compare yourself with the one sleeping inside the coffin. Hope that helps. Regards, -d- |
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Re: Understand the life and the death
From: pugwashjw-ga on 08 Feb 2005 06:28 PST |
What the bible says about the "soul". The word "soul" is translated from the Hebrew word " ne'phesh" and the Greek word "psy-khe". To many people, "Soul" means a spirit part of the human person that survives death. But is this true?. Genesis 2;7 says that God formed man and he " came to be a living soul" NOT that he was "given" a soul. The original word translated here is "ne'phesh" First Corinthians 15;45 .."It is even so written; "The first man Adam became a living soul". The last Adam [ Jesus] became a life giving spirit" First Peter 3;20.." In Noah's days..a few people, that is, eight souls, were carried safely through the water". Genesis 9;5.. "Beside that, your blood of your souls [ or lives] shall I ask back" Joshuah 11;11..they went striking every soul [ again, ne'phesh] that was in it with the edge of the sword" All the above scriptures indicate souls are complete living persons, and not a separate part. Animals also are souls..Genesis 1;20,21,24,25..a swarm of living souls. Leviticus 24; 17,18 "In case a man strikes any soul [ ne'phesh] of mankind fatally, he should be put to death"... If souls were separate, would they bleed? Could they be affected by a sword blade. Ezekiel 18;4.. Look!, All the souls- to me they belong...the soul that is sinning..it itself will die. The idea that there is a separate soul that survives death goes totally against this scripture. But a soul being the complete person makes common sence Ecclesiastes 12;7 says that there is a life force that is given to us by God and taken back when we die, but it is a force and not a personality. The Hebrew word for this force is "ru'ach". Ecc. 3;19 says men and animals have the same eventuality and they all have the same spirit [ ru'ach] Psalm 146;4..His spirit [ ru'ach] goes out, he goes back to his ground; in that day his thoughts do perish". Some translations render "ru'ach" as "breath' Immortality of a separate soul is a Greek philosophy idea formed in ancient mystery cults and elaborated on by Plato, the Greek writer. |
Subject:
Re: Understand the life and the death
From: racecar-ga on 08 Feb 2005 11:27 PST |
Really, I don't think the question of the difference between life and death has much to do with a soul. If it did, it would be very bad for doctors, because they don't learn about souls in medical school, so how could they ever pronounce someone dead? Also there is no known way to detect a soul, so assuming that there is a soul which leaves the body when a person dies does not help provide a tangible distiction between life and death. This is how I think of it: your body is a machine, with lots of systems and parts, like a car. Just like a car, your body can break down and stop working for any one of a huge number of reasons. Mechanics can fix minor break-downs, but eventually the problems become too severe, and the car is totalled. In the same way, your body can break down and be 'brought back to life'--for example, your heart can stop, but CPR or a defibrillator can sometimes start it again. Your brain is very complicated though, and doctors really can't do much to repair it. So if your brain gets messed up, that's pretty much it. One of the things that messes up your brain is a lack of oxygen. So if your breathing stops (no more oxygen coming in) or your heart stops (no more oxygen getting pumped to your brain) pretty soon irreparable damage is done to your brain, and you're dead (totalled). |
Subject:
Re: Understand the life and the death
From: spookysr-ga on 08 Feb 2005 12:33 PST |
I guess, Bourini, you are pondering the meaning of life, especially when you ponder how "some of the people" of 'Allah' are violating his "prophet's" laws and regulation relating to a spiritual striving to cause the death of others who are not believers in his writings (i.e. Arabic: jahada). Those people have lost their way and have turned away from the original teachings of that "prophet". Certaintly Abraham's son Ishmael, the supposed father of Islam, would never condone what is being done in Allah's (simply translates: elohim or lord) name today. It would horrify Ishmael as it should do to us today. However, conversely, some of the followers of Christ have done the same thing starting with Constantine the Great in 325 AD at Nicea (i.e. originated the first 'universal' religion he called 'catholicus' in Latin). He embraced the the occult beliefs of his mother, Helene, who was a devout follower of the works of Aristotle, but mainly Plato. Plato, and his teacher Aristotle, were devout followers of the ancient Sumerian (i.e. Babylonian) teachings of things like "life after death", the "immortality of the soul", triune gods, and other fallacies adopted by Constantine and most of the organized Judeo-Christian religions of today. However, don't be despondant or loose your way over what how a few 'apostates of truth' conduct themsleves. An ancient South West Asian of Roman birth once wrote to his brothers and sisters at Colossae (a city in ancient Turkey): "For God is my witness of how I am yearning for all of YOU in such tender affection as Christ Jesus has. And this is what I continue praying, that YOUR love may abound yet more and more with ACCURATE KNOWLEDGE and full discernment; that YOU may make sure of the more important things, so that YOU may be flawless and not be stumbling others up to the day of Christ, and may be filled with righteous fruit, which is through Jesus Christ, to God's glory and praise." - There is hope for mankind. You just need to diligently and earnestly seek it through "accurate knowledge"... Try starting by praying incessantly to the God of Abraham, by His chosen name, to help you find the truth about everything you need to know. Somehow I feel the answers you seek will come to you somehow. Just maybe not in the way you expect. Your first task of "due diligence" is to conduct a private search for that Divine name. I would tell you but it is better for you to do your on knocking at that Divine door yourself... ;-) GOOD HUNTING! |
Subject:
Re: Understand the life and the death
From: crabcakes-ga on 08 Feb 2005 13:05 PST |
This is from pinkfreud-ga, at her request: "To those who have turned this simple question into a soapbox: Religious proselytizing in inappropriate circumstances is, in my experience, counter-productive. You are much more likely to hurt your cause than to help it. To witness is not just to stand up in court and start shouting. You wait until you are properly summoned to testify." |
Subject:
Re: Understand the life and the death
From: tlspiegel-ga on 08 Feb 2005 13:15 PST |
According to Merriam-Webster dictionary: Main Entry: alive Pronunciation: &-'lIv Function: adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Old English on life, from on + lIf life 1 : having life : not dead or inanimate 2 : still in existence, force, or operation : ACTIVE <kept hope alive> 3 : knowing or realizing the existence of : SENSITIVE <alive to the danger> 4 : marked by alertness, energy, or briskness 5 : marked by much life, animation, or activity : SWARMING <streets alive with traffic> 6 -- used as an intensive following the noun <the proudest boy alive> Main Entry: death Pronunciation: 'deth Function: noun Etymology: Middle English deeth, from Old English dEath; akin to Old Norse dauthi death, deyja to die -- more at DIE 1 : a permanent cessation of all vital functions : the end of life -- compare BRAIN DEATH 2 : the cause or occasion of loss of life <drinking was the death of him> 3 capitalized : the destroyer of life represented usually as a skeleton with a scythe 4 : the state of being dead 5 a : the passing or destruction of something inanimate <the death of vaudeville> b : EXTINCTION 6 : CIVIL DEATH 7 : SLAUGHTER 8 Christian Science : the lie of life in matter : that which is unreal and untrue : ILLUSION - at death's door : close to death : critically ill - to death : beyond endurance : EXCESSIVELY <bored to death> |
Subject:
Re: Understand the life and the death
From: journalist-ga on 08 Feb 2005 16:05 PST |
Greetings Bourini, An analogy related by the character of Sister Madeline (Linda Hunt) in the film Dragonfly compares being under the influence of anaesthesia to "levels of death." An anaesthetist takes a person down to a level of unconsciousness so that a surgeon may operate on the patient while the patient cannot *consciously* register the effects of a major surgical process. You may want to research gradations of anesthetic depth to better understand the many levels of drug-induced unconsciousness. As you may already know, an unembalmed corpse continues to grow hair and fingernails for a few days to weeks after "death." Now, how can a "dead" body continue to do that? So the question is really not "What is death?" The question is "Where is death?" or "At what unconsciousness level does death occur?" Also, the definition of death comes exclusively from the living not the dead -- death still lies in the realm of speculation, or in an agreed-upon definition from the living of what constitutes non-life. Most of the major religions of today believe in a life of spirit after a death of the physical body. This perception brings great comfort to many people but as clever as the human race believes itself to be, no one knows for sure if the spirit and the human body are two separate entities. For instance, Christianity will point to the fact that Jesus being resurrected after three days of "death" somehow proves life after death but that appears to be a convenient illusion: The Christians claim Jesus is God come to Earth, and they also believe God is omnipotent and cannot die, so how could Jesus have actually died if is also God? You've asked a very interesting question, and I look forward to reading more comments on it. Best regards, journalist-ga |
Subject:
Re: Understand the life and the death
From: spookysr-ga on 08 Feb 2005 19:32 PST |
Bourini asked: "What is the death mean, and how I'm a live? What is the difference between life and death?" Bourini's question is obviously in the realm of a "belief system" based inquiry. He/she wants our take on the original question which sounds like a request for our interpretation based on our secular belief systems. Science, evolution, and aetheism are still a belief system or "religion" as there is a strongly held central theorectical theme to one's personal beliefs. Also Bourini is clearly an Arabic name which is indicative of a possible Islamic belief system. The sub-standard English syntax is indicative of a non-native born American or Britian. This too indicates a non-traditional western religion. With all of the current events and recent religious focus on Islam (Muslims) it was intuitive to choose answers (comments) that sound like soapbox proselytizing. I personally think pugwashjw (et al) gave a very insightful comments. I too think the question was a good one... |
Subject:
Re: Understand the life and the death
From: journalist-ga on 09 Feb 2005 07:52 PST |
Well, I must correct one of my claims if Snopes is to remain an accurate myth dispelling site: http://www.snopes.com/science/nailgrow.asp - I guess all those stories my grandmother told me about corpses weren't necessarily accurate. lol Best regards, journalist-ga |
Subject:
Re: Understand the life and the death
From: spookysr-ga on 09 Feb 2005 11:55 PST |
<<Sound of Spooky climbing on his soapbox>> ;-> Journalist, I also wanted to correct something else you said in the same posting: "[Christians] claim Jesus is God come to Earth...so how could Jesus have actually died if is also God?" This belief that Jesus Christ was God was NOT held by the first original Christians. They believed him, rightly so, to be a separate and distinct personality from God or the Son of God. The deification of Christ, by virtue of Plato's pagan belief in Babylonian the belief system, namely a false triune 3-in-1 god or The Trinity, was clearly the anti-christian Emperor Constantine's artifical construction in 325 AD at Nicea to win pagan converts to his new universal psuedo-christian church. He only converted to so-called Christianity on his death bed. This 'universal church' was the actual foundation for most religions today who also profess to be Christian. Jesus constantly asserted his subordination, subservance, and his secondary status to the God of Abraham or Jesus' heavenly Father mentioned by Moses at Exodus 6:3 and later by David at Psalms 83:18. John 6:38, and many other scriptures written by the apostle John, help the reader to understand that Jesus was SENT by a separate and distinct superior entity. Therefore it is just one more thing that proves that some of our organized religions today have totally inaccurate knowledge and continue to propagate it to the masses. Incidently the word TRINITY can not be found anywhere in the 66 books of the bible. So its not fair to true Christians to say "Christians" said this. It would be more accurate to say "Christendom" said it. This label would mean "the present dominian of 'professed' Christianity". Just wanted to correct the record. We actually are kinda' in agreement but for different reasons. :-) PS - Bourini - I hope this discussion helps you get a broader picture of the big forest dispite all of those trees in the way... :-) <<Sound of dismounting the soapbox>> |
Subject:
Re: Understand the life and the death
From: locoty-ga on 12 Feb 2005 14:11 PST |
we can understand death n life from two side, scientific or religic. whatever science says, the right one is still the religion. Science have to explain everything in this universe, and the religion doesn't have to prove anything because it comes from one Supreme Power we called GOD. we can say that if heart n brain stop then the person die, but how if we take someone's brain n heart then we put them to life support equipment,do we call that person "life"?That's just what science said so we can understand about death and life. It's GOD's way and we never know it.... |
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