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On the definition of life

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Summary

Schrödinger's definition of life needs a slight modification to absorb the criticism of it. It is the comparison of the entropy level of a system before and after a process which makes one view it as living: we consider the stability of the deviation from the probable a sign of life. This explains why we do not hesitate to consider as remnants of living systems skeletons and fossils anywhere and physical culture on any archeological site.

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Schejter, A., Agassi, J. On the definition of life. J Gen Philos Sci 25, 97–106 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00769279

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00769279

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