Cheltenham HS

Life and Its Origins The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines life as "The quality that distinguishes a vital and functional being from a dead body or inanimate matter...also, a state of an organism characterized especially by capacity for metabolism, growth, reaction to stimuli, and reproduction..."(The Merriam Webster Dictionary 299). To further help in distinguishing what life is are the nine characteristics of life discussed in class. I tend not to agree with the ideas of Lynn Margulis, Dorion Sagan, Alan Watts, and others who have theories like them. By reading some excerpts from Margulis' and Sagan's book, What is Life?, their ideas seem to be more of a poetic and dreamy sort of fantasy. Just because an organism does not have the ability to "...work things out," (What is Life? excerpts from packet Unit II: The Origin of Life) does not mean it is not alive. Also, I do not believe that the formation of clouds are living things, as Margulis and Sagan suggest (What is Life? excerpts from packet Unit II: The Origin of Life), because they do not seem to contain all the characteristics that living things are supposed to exhibit. The philosopher, Alan Watts, suggest what seems to me to be a pretty 'dreamy' and far- fetched idea that, once again, is used in more poetic terms, instead of scientific. That's fine for poetry, but not for science. I believe that anything living has all nine of the Characteristics of Life, and not one less. After reading many theories on how life began, I am inclined to agree with the zoologist David Deamer on his theory of how the very first life forms were created (Time 73). His theory focuses on the idea that if there was any life before about four billion years ago, it was most likely killed off completely by the great asteroids, comets, and other space objects that collided with the Earth about that time. However, even though these objects killed off life, in a way, they seem to have possibly recreated what they had destroyed. After removing and testing material from meteorites, Deamer found that this substance was organic, and can form cell-like membranes. It is also contains light yellow pigmentation that can absorb energy from light, and could possibly be the predecessor of chlorophyll, which is the green pigmentation in plants today (Time 73). Even though critics of this theory say that the amount of this type of material in a meteorite is too small to have started life on earth, I still believe it to be part of or the true theory in the creation of life. Also, the objects that collided with the earth, as suggested by Kevin Zahnle of NASA Ames Research Center, could very easily change the earth's makeup, depending on what elements the object contained (Time 73). So, I believe that life in a scientific view is not some poetic interpretation, but a straight, clear-cut thing that exhibits all nine characteristics of life, and that it came to be by the elements in the asteroids that crashed into the Earth, not by a nice, slow, easy evolution of things. And although no one knows the true origin and definition of life, that could all change any day. References: Nash, Madeleine J., "How Did Life Begin?," Time 11 October, 1993 : 69-74. "Life," The Merriam Webster Dictionary. United States of America: Merriam-Webster Inc., 1995. excerpts from... Margulis, Lynn and Dorion Sagan. What is Life?. found in the packet Unit II: The Origin of Life by Mrs. Mazen