Alive: Social vs. Scientific Life

Being alive is not a one-word, one-meaning concept either. In reality there are two distinct, separate, definitions of the meaning of life. These are classified as Socially Alive, and Scientifically Alive. Let’s look into both to see the two different concepts we must overcome in order to create a robot that is, by all definitions, alive.

Scientifically Alive – There are 4 parts to the widely accepted scientific
definition of life, for an entity to be scientifically defined as alive, it
must:

a) Have a metabolism
b) Grow
c) React to external stimuli
d) Reproduce

Socially Alive – This is the state of social acceptance where the vast majority of people (in a given contained network, area, geographical location, etc.) believe and fully accept an entity to be alive.

In modern culture, this is obviously apparent as trees, dogs, and humans are Socially Alive.
However obvious trees and dogs seem to be to us now,

other networks in the world fully accept some statues, cloths, and even water to be alive.

Thus, in these geographical areas or societies, the entities that we would call inanimate, are in fact Socially Alive to them.

The human mind wants to assert the property of life into objects, perhaps to find companionship with the different entities in the surrounding world. A child does this all the time, fully convinced that their doll, or action figure, needs to sleep, eat, and play just as they do, because it is (in their own network of their own minds) Socially Alive – though this is not a true example of Socially Alive, since the child is only one person, not a network of people.

Adults, when we grow older, are more influenced by other people around us, thus we tend to see things as being alive that the ones around us also see as being alive, so we let go of our childhood doll’s aliveness, but perhaps pick up other habits of calling a statue, or holy water, alive.
And so we must understand that being Socially Alive is only what we accept it to be. If everyone accepted the fact that this robot is, actually, a new life form, then the robot would now be alive, socially at least.

Conclusion
For one to be fully satisfied, our robot should meet both of these distinct definitions of being alive, though in reality, one must come first, which will lead the other. I have chosen to go after Scientifically Alive, as our modern culture tends to be one that is led by scientific discoveries/
(Interesting side Note: If we lived in the 14th century where superstition directed most of the beliefs of humans, I may have better success attempting to go after Socially Alive, thus leading Scientifically Alive).

And so, our outline has been systematically defined, our robot must meet or exceed all the criteria for being Scientifically Alive – once that happens, people regardless of what they believe, will have no choice but to accept that the robot is, scientifically speaking, alive. (Note that socially acceptance often follows a few years behind scientific discoveries - rarely is the social acceptance immediate after the discovery).

Life, Robotic

Mankind's first synthetic life form

This blog describes the creation of the first new synthetic life form ever created by the human race. My intention for this action is to one day build a living museum of robotic life forms, filled with many different types of “isobios” (isomorphic biological life forms). An entire synthetic ecosystem, powered solely by a single outside energy source much as the Sun is to Earth. I envision a place that exhibits the various different kinds of synthetic life, and where living “isobios” can be observed in their natural environment - where children and adults alike can come to see these fascinating creatures live.

Through this, I hope to bring about an awareness of our own fragile ecosystem and the effects that we humans have on it through – My hope is that a parallel viewing of this similar robotic ecosystem will give people a different view of our own ecosystem, how complex, yet how much it needs our help to survive.

Also bringing awareness to the many endangered species in our own ecosystem, which my heart goes out to - how our actions as a human race are directly affecting these other life forms, and Earth’s ecosystem as a whole.

I would like to partner with the endangered species of the world organizations, and also climate change awareness organizations, even perhaps NASA to showcase the various kinds of life forms that are different from our own yet could populate the universe at this very moment.

I also intend to create an educational curriculum course showcasing and investigating the various scientific and biologically inspired concepts in isomorphic life creation. My hope is that this will be taught in schools or universities, to give students a real understanding of how ecosystems, and their life forms, really come to be and share a deep connection to each other – as we ourselves are part of Earth’s ecosystem.