What is life? Most of us think of it in terms of biology- plants, animals, fungi and bacteria. By such strict definitions, conventional viruses aren’t exactly alive.

I find it interesting to break away from this limited perspective, to broaden the idea of life to include anything that’s capable of reproducing, mutating and evolving. By this definition, a lot more things could be described as alive- cities and economies are living organisms with their own unique forms of respiration. The same could be said for businesses, literature, music, language and art.

It is clear then, that while life exists, it is not a thing in itself. Rather, it is an emergent property of other things. The molecules in our body are chemically identical to molecules outside of us. A carbon atom in a living person would be indistinguishable from a carbon atom in a diamond or a corpse. The only difference is the manner in which the molecules are arranged, the systems that they are a part of. (I find this analogy to be relevant when considering how normal people can commit both monstrous and heroic deeds when placed in various circumstances- the central idea is that placement and arrangement matters, because the whole is more than the sum of its parts.)

So life is one of the ways in which constituent parts (or organelles) can be arranged to form a greater whole (or organism). Life is an idea, a pattern in time and space that is remarkably resilient. I like the imagery of the idea that life is a great, mystical dance of sorts, and we are all dancers. The dance transcends the dancers, just as great art transcends the artists. In a way, even with free will (within limits), we are all subservient to Life, whether we like it or not. Living is most pleasurable when one is in sync, dancing in step along with Life’s ebbs and flows.

Life is a pattern in time and space, a great dance from which we cannot stray too far from even if we tried. And this dance is neither fixed nor final- it is constantly mutating and evolving, and every new dancer’s interpretations contribute to the larger picture. This is highly visible in the evolution of human knowledge- how our understanding of the arts and sciences have grown, changed, proliferated. Lewis Thomas, a biologist, described beautifully how scientists in a lab “build science” in a manner that’s amazingly similar to the way termites construct their mounds.

On one hand, it may seem like there’s nothing any of us can do to influence these great forces- why bother becoming a scientist or artist when there are so many others who are bound to be better at it than you are? And yet, at the same time, these forces are made up entirely of the thoughts and actions of millions of people. It’s residual, cumulative. Every conversation, every interaction alters the course of history in a miniscule way, and it all adds up to make a big difference. Most of the great change that has happened throughout human history has been the consequence of the relentless perserverance, faith and dedication of a remarkable few. Slavery, women’s rights, preventable diseases- much progress has been made (although not enough- never enough.)