Billy wrote:
In article ,
"symplastless" wrote:

[Following the same logic we are just a couple
of dollars worth of inanimate chemicals, whose form, matrix if you
will, conjures up the phenomenon of life. ]

By weight we are made up of 98% of the same chemicals as trees.
What makes us different is the way the chemicals are connected.
(carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus)
Life is a journey powered by the sun. We are made up of chemicals
borrowed from the earth. In death, those chemicals are returned.
The theme of life appears to be buildup and breakdown.

All analogies breakdown at some point, but I prefer to think of it
as
a relay race for survival with the baton of life being passed on to
the next participant.

The evidence that comes from rocks is that life was once very
simple,
by modern standards, but the struggle to survive gave rise to new
forms of life that adapted to local conditions for survival. From
mass one cell reproduction, to exploiting dry land, to sexual
reproduction, to sheer mass in size, to conceptual thinking, it is
all about survival, not of the individual or even the species, but
life itself.

Reminds me, I need breakfast:-)

And I think I'll go out and turn over a spade of dirt next to the
compost pile and see how the fishing worms are doing!! Afraid of the
import fish anymore, so maybe I'll try fresh caught this week!

Tom J