Thread: how to make atoms animate

I am not to sure if this is really the correct section for this but here goes anyway.

Everyone and everything we see, feel , taste, touch, breath etc is made completely of atoms ( i hope this is correct, as it is the basis for my question!)

My question is how does a collection of atoms become animate? What is it that causes this? Say for instance if we took the most basic organism known to man, managed to map every atom which makes that organism what it is, then collected the "shopping list" of atoms and began re-creating it, would it be animate? Or is there an extra process that does this?

I know what i describe is not possible, i know atoms are not just lego bricks which can be used to construct with. But if this process were possible what you end up with?

It's all chemical reactions. Everything involved with "animate" life can be broken down into a series of complex chemical reactions. That's what biochemistry is all about.

its amazing isn't it,

they way they all react to make somting possibel.

I think saying they are all (with an implied only) chemical reactions is too simple. There are heirarchies of complexity within the inanimate and animate worlds. Complexity itself may be the difference between animate and inanimate. If so, it rather raises the question of what might accompany even greater complexity than we can currently imagine.

Originally Posted by Ophiolite

I think saying they are all (with an implied only) chemical reactions is too simple.

I disagree..it can always be broken down to chemical reactions, no matter how complex it seems.

Then explain consciousness.

Originally Posted by Ophiolite

Then explain consciousness.

I don't really know the fine details of how the brain works, but it is quite clear that things which alter or interfere with the chemical processes of the brain can alter consciousness - which indicates that consciousness is the result of a chemical phenomenon.

That is a logical fallacy. All that indicates is that chemicals can modify the character of consciousness. If I bury an axe in your skull it is likely to alter your consciousness. I cannot conclude from this that consciousness is a result of sharp cutting implements.

No, but burying an axe into someone's brain is certain to alter brain chemisty and structure, so that doesn't really disprove a hypothesis that proper brain chemisty and structure (along with whatever other biological requirements you want to include) result in consiousness.

the simplest answer is to transfer energy to it ma...