The Test of Life

Earth is filled with billions of entities, all of which at one point or another must be classified as biotic or abiotic. Fritjof Capra theorizes in his book "The Web of life, A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems" what criteria an entity must contain to be seen as living or biotic. He states that "A living system has a pattern of autopoiesis throughout which the system is continually self-making or reproducing. A living system has a dissipative structure that continually takes in food for transformation into energy and use in various system construction and maintenance purposes. This mandates the continual elimination of residual matter or wastes. A living system has the ability to sense and respond to its environment in a form of cognition or knowing, which is different than thinking, Cognition requires feedback loops." (Bird, Slide 8) If an entity does not meet all three of these conditions then it is deemed an abiotic entity. Nemobius sylvestris, Avian Influenza A, and Amazon.com, will be put up against this test to see if they are biotic or abiotic.

Nemobius sylvestris or more commonly known as a wood cricket and Avian Influenza A both meet Capra's first condition of autopoiesis. Wood Crickets "usually mate during the day but lay their eggs at night" (Net Industries, Behavior and Reproduction 1). Whether they reproduce in the day or night Nemobius sylvestris still has found a way to continually reproduce. Avian Influenza A has also found a way to reproduce although it unlike the wood cricket this virus reproduces through replication. Since Avian Influenza A is a negative-stranded RNA virus it must "be copied into the complementary plus-sense mRNA before proteins can be made. Thus, besides needing to code for an RNA-dependent RNA-polymerase, these viruses also need to package it in the virion so that they can make mRNAs upon infecting the cell" (Hunt 1). This ability to replicate itself allows the Avian Influenza A to reproduce without needing intercourse or needing fertilization. Amazon.com unlike the previous two, at this point in time, has not found a way to reproduce or copy itself. There is only one Amazon.com and if the Amazon Corporation dies, there will be no other Amazon.com to continue on the name. Amazon.com is incapable of procreating any offspring to carry on its "genes" or information and inventory.

Dissipative structures can be found in both Nemobius sylvestris and Avian Influenza A. The wood cricket usually feeds on plants sometimes eating living or dead insects (Net Industries, Diet 1). They then digest their food with their interior organs. These organs break down the food and extract the nutrients from it transforming it into energy, which it then uses to maintain its body and fuel other parts of its body. Then after all nutrients have been extracted the cricket releases the waste out of its body through its anus. Avian Influenza A takes its food from its host. It takes in what it needs through osmosis and uses the nutrients it gains to replicate and maintain itself. After it is finished with the material it has allowed into itself it allows the waste material to once again leave and re-enter the host's body. Amazon.com also has a dissipative structure but instead of taking in food for nutrients it takes in money. Which then it distributes to the people working for the corporation. The money they receive then motivates them to put energy into the company, maintaining, constructing, and expanding it. Once all the maintenance, construction, and expanding is done, Amazon then removes all the waste, paper, pens, pencils, food, and exedra and dumps it into various dumpsters. Which are then emptied by a trash agency and taken to a local dump. All three entities have some sort of dissipative structure but according to Capra they still must meet one more condition.

The "ability to sense and respond to [ones] environment in a form of cognition or knowing, which is different than thinking. Cognition requires feedback loops" (Bird Slide 8). Nemobius sylvestris uses cognition constantly. It uses it while jumping from place to place and also when out-smarting its predators. Wood Crickets use cognition when mating and when scavenging for food. They do not think about these things it is just instinct and the ability to know things from past experiences. Avian Influenza A does everything on cognition. Its sole purpose is to survive and to do this it replicates, takes in nutrition, and spreads onto new hosts in attempts to better their chances of survival. They also adapt in attempts to survive. Amazon.com on the other hand does not do anything on cognition. Amazon does not have instincts. Everything that it does is thought over thoroughly by marketing teams, sales representatives, distributing managers, and many other workers. This is why they do not pass Capra's test.

Capra says that to be a biotic entity, "one must have a pattern of autopoiesis, have a dissipative structure, and must have the ability to respond ton ones environment, using cognition" (Bird Slide 8). Nemobius sylvestris and Avian Influenza A both meet all three of these conditions. For this reason I classify them as biotic entities. Amazon.com however only meets one of Capra's conditions and therefore, at this point in time, I classify it as a abiotic entity. This could change however as the world is always changing and technology is always becoming more and more life like.

Work Cited

Bird, George W. "Lecture 1." Doctor. Wells Hall Room B102. 28 Aug. 2007.
Hunt, Richard. "VIROLOGY - CHAPTER FOUR RNA Virus Replication Strategies." Microbiology and Immunology On-line. 8 May 2007. The Board of Trustees of the University of South Carolina. 5 Sept. 2007 .
Net Industries. "Behavior and Reproduction." Crickets Grasshoppers and Katydids: Orthoptera. 2007. Google. 5 Sept. 2007 .
- - -. "Crickets Grasshoppers and Katydids: Orthoptera - Diet." Crickets Grasshoppers and Katydids: Orthoptera. 2007. Google. 5 Sept. 2007 .