Evolution (Evolution)

by George Jelliss , Crewe, Thursday, January 22, 2009, 11:08 (5785 days ago) @ dhw

DHW asks: All the examples you choose ... avalanche, tsunami, hurricane, supernovas, planets ... relate to inorganic matter. Is there no difference in principle between these inorganic processes on the one hand and life, reproduction, organs, senses, consciousness on the other? If there is a difference, what is it? - No there is no difference, in principle. This whole argument goes back to Friedrich Wohler's synthesis of urea in 1828. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_W%C3%B6hler - And Henri Bergson's ideas of an "elan vital". - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89lan_vital - Of course it is usually possible to distinguish living things from non-living, though there are grey areas. Are viruses living things? There was a radio programme by Jonathan Miller recently discussing life and death, which touched on this question. - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00gdyxv - It's only there for another ten hours to listen again!

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GPJ