What makes something alive?

The question “What is life?” has puzzled thinkers forever. Biologist Ludwig von Bertalanffy once argued that you can’t define life by just breaking it down into mechanical parts—like gears in a machine (Bertalanffy, 1972). Instead, he said life is about processes: how living things stay organized, grow, and interact with their surroundings. Think of it like this: a dead leaf and a living plant might have similar “stuff” (cells, chemicals), but the plant is alive because its processes keep humming along.

Fritjof Capra, a physicist with a flair for big-picture thinking, agreed. He criticized science for focusing too much on measuring bits and pieces—like counting atoms—while missing the relationships that make life tick (Capra, 1996). For Capra, life isn’t just about parts; it’s about how those parts work together in context.