Matter's Struggle for Life

Sometimes I think about life. How interesting is the journey from matter to life?

The law of the universe, the law of nature, we know from our observations, is that matter can only become new matter by consuming each other.  Helium has to consume hydrogen to become helium. So do the other elements, they are all formed from each other.

No way has yet been found to create hydrogen out of nothing, let's not say out of nothing, let's say a way to produce matter from energy.

But we know that hydrogen is actually a particle of energy. Although we cannot yet produce matter from energy, we can now split the atom. We understand that the atom is made up of lots of subatomic quantum particles.

The invaluable work of many scientists has played a major role in this journey. Planck's constant, Lorentz transformations, Einstein's idea of light-wave and energy packets, Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, Schrödinger's cat, the Klein-Gordon equation and then the Copenhagen interpretation of the Standard Model. There are many other valuable works by many other scientists that I have not mentioned.

Of course, when we say that we know that matter is energy, we probably cannot say that we are absolutely sure. However, this theory, which human beings have been able to think so far, and beyond thinking, many studies have been carried out to prove it by putting forward the theory, and which is still being worked on, is the most consistent of all the theories put forward so far. I am talking about the Quantum Field theory. This is a very complicated concept, if you remember I wrote a very scientific article about it recently, but to tell you the truth, my mind is not enough to grasp the whole subject anyway, so I will not go into this theory in depth again now. Let me just conclude with the following: Albert Einstein, one of the smartest people who ever lived, came up with the formula. E=mc^2, energy equals matter, matter equals energy.

Yes, matter that diversifies by consuming each other, that is, by transforming into each other, by coming together, appears in nature as various elements. From iron to copper, hydrogen to nitrogen, oxygen to carbon, matter does not stop at this stage; it forms molecules from elements through chemical reactions. It becomes water, stone, glass, wood. Everything we see around us, from what we eat and drink to the air we breathe, has a molecular structure. In other words, it is made of molecules.

These molecules come together in a certain way and form us living beings. While living things can now cycle energy among themselves in a certain order, they also consume each other, they are in a constant transformation.

At this stage, I have to say that the concepts of animate and inanimate are human beings' own definitions. In terms of matter, it makes no difference whether it is animate or inanimate. It somehow continues its transformation. As I mentioned in another article, if it continues this energy transformation with a specific code (DNA), then we call that group alive.

When we look around us, if we see an energy transformation, that is, a moving group of matter, and we call it alive, then we are talking about some common characteristics.

Let's try to understand these common characteristics that distinguish a living being from an inanimate being.

As I do in most of my articles, I will first look at the dictionary. I don't have much hope, but my first choice will be the Turkish Language Association dictionary.

 Canlı is defined in seven different ways in the TDK dictionary. The first definition is "having life, alive, living". Another definition is a creature that can live and move, animal. Since the other definitions are irrelevant, I don't see the need to mention them here. As always, I guess these definitions seem inadequate to you as well.

Etymologically, I think the fact that it is derived from the Persian word "can" is also irrelevant, so I will skip the etymological meaning and source information. I can add the definition of "not yet dead" as an additional definition in other dictionaries.

But still, these definitions seem very inadequate to me. I need a more detailed definition.

As a basic definition, for something to be alive:

-organization,

-growth,

-replication-reproduction,

-that it has a body, that it has a metabolism,

-homeostasis, i.e. the existence of equilibrium, the maintenance of the internal physical balance of the living being,

-react to internal and external stimuli and

-adaptation to the environment

It is written on a website that it should have features. This definition seems a bit more scientific.

It's a bit complicated, but to simplify: "A living being is a collection of molecules that can reproduce on its own, react to influences, grow or at least develop, maintain its vitality within itself, make the energy transformations it needs for this purpose on its own, have a body and adapt to the environment throughout its life, and in a sense have mobility." Would you agree?

This community of molecules has to have an established order in order to survive. The famous code, DNA! And when I say a code, I mean a regular energy cycle.

By the way, mitochondria, the organelle responsible for energy production in the cell, has its own DNA. So once upon a time, when the cell structure was evolving, mitochondria and other organelles decided to merge and form a symbiosis. Similarly, in plants, the chloroplast, which is responsible for energy, has its own DNA. Similarly, in plant cells, the same decision of symbiosis was once made. I found this information interesting.

Anyway, let's get back to the subject.

I don't want us to misunderstand the concept of life. Not everything that moves is alive, and not every energy transformation is defined as life. In order for something to be defined as alive, it must have all the common characteristics I mentioned above.

To give an example: A factory also performs a regular energy transformation within itself. Certain substances go in at one end and come out at the other end transformed. It has an energy cycle within itself. But it cannot produce a new factory by itself, and although it can fulfill many functions in accordance with the definition, factories are not living organisms because they have deficiencies.

Viruses are not living organisms either, even though they have DNA, they have to use other living organisms to reproduce. That's why they are not classified as living organisms, even though they are very close.

I think one of the things that is forgotten in the definition of life is consciousness. I think all living things have consciousness. Although I'm not so sure now. Consciousness is perhaps the main feature that distinguishes us humans from other living things.

I wonder if a bacterium has consciousness, or a plant? Does a flower bloom on purpose? Yes, many living things adapt to the environment, they are already considered as living things because they have other characteristics. But most of them don't seem to have a consciousness.

But I think at least cats have a consciousness. Similarly, many living things have consciousness. Some creatures like lions and jackals even have a social consciousness.

So consciousness cannot be what distinguishes us humans from other creatures.

What is it that distinguishes us from other sentient beings?

Many creatures have been found to dream like us. Dogs, for example, they also dream.

The root word for thought is dream. Would it be correct to say that one of the main characteristics that distinguish humans from other living things is thinking?

How many of us like to think, though? Many people prefer to follow someone in order not to think. But it still seems to me that being able to think is one of the main differences.

Still, I think there are other living things that can think. So thinking cannot be a fundamental difference between us and other living beings.

It's not living together, it's not being a community. All these characteristics can also be seen in other living groups.

But being a society? Look, this is where I think we are slowly starting to diverge.

In fact, I think it would be more accurate to say that the main feature that distinguishes human beings from other living things is their awareness of time.

Yes, we know our past and we can make plans for the future. This must be the main difference, it makes perfect sense when you think about it.

I mean, it's not like a lion making a plan in pursuit of prey. It too approaches its prey without spooking it, it knows what it's doing, it knows which way to run, it knows how to grasp its prey and lay it on the ground, or if they're hunting together, it can plan which way to drive the prey. But that's it. They don't worry about how many children to have, how to raise them, how to make a living. He is not very aware of time, he just lives for the day, for the moment.

Yes, we are actually a collection of molecules. In fact, with our cells that are renewed from the day we are born until the last day of our lives, we are not the same as we were on the first day, we are actually the accumulation of knowledge that the constantly transforming substances and molecules transfer to the new molecules that take their place before they leave us. When the transfer of this accumulation of knowledge from one molecule to another, which takes place in a certain order, fails one day, in other words, when we cease to be "not dead yet", the entire accumulation of knowledge disappears and dissipates into the universe.

In a sense, life means that we pass on our knowledge to each other. There is no point in keeping our experiences to ourselves, because eventually that knowledge will disappear. The order will end one day.

At this stage, I don't want to get into beliefs, it's not about how matter came into existence, how human beings were created, what happens after death, heaven and hell. I have already written about beliefs in a previous article. I wrote my ideas clearly enough in that article. I respect all the beliefs that exist in the world in the same way. I mean, I have my own beliefs just like everybody else, but beliefs are not the subject of this article.

The moral of the story is that we start from a particle of energy and at the end of the article, we are actually an accumulation of knowledge.

It is with this consciousness that I decided that I should share my ideas. If they stay with me, one day they will disappear. It will be a pity.

The matter that consumes each other while feeding on each other through energy transformations in the struggle for life may not have a consciousness, but the ideas and knowledge formed by consciousness and thought are transferred from one to the other on the common platform formed by the ones that are still included in life, stacked, sorted and the important ones are stored as long as human life continues. This platform is our memory, the place where our memories accumulate. But every day some lives come to an end. Naturally, a lot of memories, a lot of information disappears every day.

Maybe a lot of it can be considered useless information. But maybe there is information and ideas among them that are very valuable for the future of humanity. How sad that they are disappearing.

So I think let's not hesitate to share our ideas, let's share information freely among ourselves. Sharing information should be free, it should not be forbidden.

This is a human right and I will end this article today.

Love and respect to everyone from Moscow.