[extropy-chat] Human Evolution

[CurtAdams at aol.com]

In a message dated 11/21/03 3:59:48, avantguardian2020 at yahoo.com writes:

>     Now that I have explained the relationship between thermodynamic and
>informational entropy, I can now answer your question Brett. The "old school"
>definition of life relied on a thermodynamic definition involving coupled
>chemical reactions that built up an ordered state of matter by lowering
>the system's thermodynamic entropy. This lowering of a system's Boltzman
>entropy supposedly allowed for all the phenonemena normally associated
>with life such as homeostasis, growth, and reproduction. Yet this, if you
>think about it, is a fallacy. 
>
>      Two systems composed of the very same chemical constituents and having
>the very same thermodynamic entropy content can have two very different
>biological states. One system can be alive and the other system can be
>dead and a simple chemical analysis will not allow you to determine one
>state from the other.

Not relevant with the conventional definition.  The conventional definition 
is that
life is a processs which maintains or reduces its own entropy by increasing 
that
of the environment.   A dead organism is no longer maintaining its own 
entropy.
The chemicals will remain similar, but so what?  Life is defined as the 
process.

>Monerae (bacteria and archaea) and protistae (algae and protozoans like 
ameobae >or parameciums) don't age at all will live and reproduce indefinately so 
long as >they have proper nutrients and aren't killed. 

Not true for ciliates.  Ciliates can manage only a limited number of asexual
reproductions before they must have sex to reproduce further.  Same scheme
as us, adapted for single cells.

>Fungi (like yeast and bread mold) eventually undergo senescence but that 
just >means they don't reproduce anymore, they will still live so long as they 
are not >killed. 

No, S. cerevisiae dies too.   It gets overwhelmed by these circles of 
ribosomal
rRNA.  There are other fungi that age and die as well.