The Definition of Life and the Life of a Definition

The meaning of life is probably of interest to any reflective individual. However, the definition of life is of interest to a smaller circle of researchers trying to better elucidate the meaning of life in a reflective, critical, and constructive manner. To critically evaluate a novel definition of life one has to take a step backward and understand the meaning of definition. In this context, I would like to draw what I consider an interesting analogy between our understanding of measurement and our understanding of definition. At the beginning of human civilization, measurement took the form of a one-to-one correspondence between natural numbers and pre-defined objects. Therefore, measurement was identified with the counting of objects that exist, and I emphasize this point, prior to the measurement/counting procedure. For instance, the ancient man could have counted his wives by using his fingers in the same way as young children learn to count objects. However, modern science has turned the idea of measurement on its head in the sense that measurement is now understood as the operation through which we define objects whose existence cannot be trivially assured prior to the measurement process. For instance, “potential energy” does not exist in a similar manner to fingers or sheep. Potential energy as an object of scientific inquiry is operationally defined, for instance, through the procedure of multiplying m, h, and g. Our understanding of definition has been changed along the same line. Let me explain this argument. Alchemy was obsessively involved with “purifying” the spiritual essence of matter the same as Plato was obsessed with purifying the essence of beings through definitions. In retrospect, it seems that science has advanced not by purifying the essence of objects, whether natural or conceptual, but by adopting the idea of measurement/definition as (1) producing a novel object of contemplation (e.g., potential energy, imaginary numbers) and (2) pragmatically proving the benefits of this new measurement/definition.