Expanding the definition of "life"

I was just thinking about this having done a post on Silicon based lifeforms.

Everything in the Universe appears to be alive, everything goes through life cycles from stars to cellular structures. Think about it...all stars are born, live for awhile, and then die...same as every other living thing. Planets go through cycles and weather changes. Organic life does as well. Maybe we have not been able to locate exact proof of life beyond Earth because our definition of "life" is to narrow. Maybe all life does not follow the basic rules that we think it does...ie must be carbon based, etc. to be counted as life.

Maybe our science is not yet fully developed enough to understand that everything in the universe is living and interconnected. Afterall, who is to say that Black Holes, the bending of space-time, and the very fabric of the universe (Superstrings, etc.) is not "living".

There are obvious structures on the surface of Mars, but even that aside maybe the very rocks that make up Mars are in effect living. It seems to me that if we do not expand our way of thinking while exploring the universe we are going to miss out on clear opportunities. Maybe life does not stop with carbon based life forms...

...I could go on, but I think you all get the point!

if everything in the universe is alive like you said, then it would certainly support the existence of god...but that's another thread

i don't think we will ever understand what life really is, well at least not in our generation. but to my understanding, a rock or a gran of sand being alive is a little "out there".

jazzer you do have a point there, rest assured. but i think we're more interested in finding intelligent life; life that is sentient, not just biologically active organisms.

It seems to me that if we do not expand our way of thinking while exploring the universe we are going to miss out on clear opportunities.

I totally agree!. Why limit ourselves to just one method of thinking? Maybe its time we start thinking outside the square..

Maby with the discovery of 'Dark Matter' whe can have a clue.
Its altering the rotation of the stars but astronomers cant see
it. Maby in this context there will be some kinds of entity's that we
cant see but is 'out there'. (spirits?, parallel universe?)

Originally posted by 2009
if everything in the universe is alive like you said, then it would certainly support the existence of god...but that's another thread

i don't think we will ever understand what life really is, well at least not in our generation. but to my understanding, a rock or a gran of sand being alive is a little "out there".

what are all lifes forms made of? cells! some are single celled, others are multicelled.

what is the earth made of? rocks, pebbles, sand, etc. by themselves there isnt much to them but when together they create things, they become things, they are more as a whole than they seperated.

the earth is changing, plates on the earths surface move, volcanoes erupt, the earth shakes, rain erodes the mountians...this is form of life. not like a plant or an animal but it lives in a different sense. words can have more than one meaning, life is no exception. because it isnt alive like we are doesnt mean it isnt alive in its own way.

I agree too!

We need to expand the definition of what life is.
A black hole is as alive as us. A black hole is "born" after a supernova explosion, it "eats" matter (and light), may be it spews out dark matter(?), and "dies" or evaporate (i heard it somewhere).