MSS - 27 - Part 4 - Defining life

This show was broadcast on 10 June 2012.


The Magic Sandwich Show website is still under construction but you can contact any of the regular panelists through the webiste.
The website is here:
http://www.magicsandwichshow.com/
(Thank you to youtube user emilyhasbooks for her assistance is producing the site)

We are now numbering the shows rather than relying on the date to identify them.

Other parts of the shows can be found here:

Part 1
GIVE ME EVIDENCE OF ABIOGENESIS OR I WIN BY DEFAULT!?!?!?
http://youtu.be/XDp6tZ448-g

Part 2
Atheism and belief in the big bang
http://youtu.be/tekV5QqtBio

Part 3
Defining objective morality
http://youtu.be/aWkaMMvqMXw

Part 4
Defining life
http://youtu.be/mpi7L-IqnXU


Part 5
Aronrahahaha and his problems
http://youtu.be/NQ-UkI028tI

Part 6
Talking in tongues
http://youtu.be/_ht0hD-Iv6Q

Part 7
Religious door knockers
http://youtu.be/KuZAadAxzFY


Part 8
Sam Harris and objective morality
http://youtu.be/N-BftnNJQak

Part 9
The most egregious statement ever made on the internet
http://youtu.be/9l8SwZ_A7YE

• Category

  Education

[Aetrion]

Arguing about the definition of semantics... now that's rich.

It's very sad that you're such a bloody minded individual who is more interested in insulting people than actually having a discussion about anything. Proving someone wrong within the realm of your definitions is meaningless, you have to do it based on their definitions, and getting those typically requires actually asking what they mean, not just starting to berate them. Oh well, everyone makes mistakes.

[phantomcreamer]

The title is "defining life" and my response was to your so called definition of life, what part of the definition of semantics do you not understand? Where have you been and how dense can you be?

[Aetrion]

So your entire argument is one of semantics. Good job, you win the internet.

[phantomcreamer]

No I didn't. I looked up the definition of a system and entropy and typed it for you, so if anything, you are the one misrepresenting a system and entropy. It's sad that when you are shown just how wrong you are, then you go off crying. Maybe you need to work on redefining what you believe or use different nouns and adjectives that accurately describe your point of view..

[samuraistrings]

The problem with labelling a virus as life, is that it requires a host cell to reproduce. The definition of life is at heart, arbitrary, but you shouldn't expect to see a large jump from non-life to life when we have a continuum of processes leading to the first living cell. Conc's definition of hifi replication might make discoveries of "life" on other planets a little less exciting.

[Aetrion]

You just misrepresent what a system and entropy pertaining thereto mean, and you obviously have no interest in actually discussing the topic rather than just insulting people.

It's pretty sad how you seem to think that you are very smart, when you go around picking fights on the internet.

[phantomcreamer]

That was sarcasm, my point is your definition would include fridge and concrete as alive. The scientific definition of life is more specific than simply the ability to transfer energy. You have a serious problem when you lack the mental capacity to differentiate biological systems from non-biological systems.

[phantomcreamer]

Yeah, but that's not what the definition of life is saying. It's not just a matter of winding down without energy plugged into the system, it's the ability of that system to have its own metabolism that can maintain homeostasis when given an energy source. Given enough energy a bullet can continue travelling, but it doesn't maintain a homeostatic metabolism.

[kitrana]

yeah but saying something isnt life because it winds down when it runs out of sources of energy is moot because life winds down when it runs out of sources for energy. for proof stop eating and your cells replication processes will stop and you'll die.