4 ms·

You seem to be able to, but it doesn't seem to generalize to scientists in general: https://www.quantamagazine.org/what-is-life-its-vast-diversity-defies-easy-d

• morpheos137 6y ago
  I was creating an operational definition. Of course others disagree. That is how words work. They have narrower and broader meanings to different people or in different contexts. The fact the others disagree with my operational definition does not invalidate my operational definition which stands on its own. Gp asserted "We don't know how to define life." I put forth a closed definition of life that makes sense. Others may have a less restrictive definition...my definition demonstrated that sufficient conditions exist to define life.
  • n4r9 6y ago
    The difficulty I think is not in proposing a coherent definition, but in capturing precisely the shared understanding of what people mean when they say something is "alive".
    • morlockabove 6y ago
      There isn't a shared understanding, people's intuitions disagree.
      • n4r9 6y ago
        There's probably an argument that can be made along those lines, but it's not self-evident.