this post was submitted on 11 Feb 2025
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The fact that there is no discernable difference between an alive body or a dead body when it comes to chemical makeup.
All the pieces are there. All the atoms and molecules are still in the same places. Yet despite this the body is still dead.
When you say "All the atoms and molecules are still in the same places", I can't say I agree. It is the change of chemical composition that renders our body dead. Or should I say, death is defined to be such a chemical composition.
yes, the same atoms are still there, but all the chemical processes in our body have stopped.
To be fair, a perfectly fine but dead body is impossible to observe since the process of dying is usually the result or accumulation of injuries or disfunctions. For this experiment you either have to kill somebody without altering their body in the slightest or instantly conjure a perfectly intact body without any life in it.
@ThatWeirdGuy1001 That's because it's not only ingredients that are important but order, relation and interaction between them also is. Hypthetically, in terms of *elements*, in a closed system, the engine that has burned through its fuel is no different than a freshly fueled one. But the engine has reordered them in order to extract some energy. So they are not chemically the same, strictly speaking.
@TehBamski
Life is a process of systems within (and outside of) an entity interacting consistently with each other.
Why would a static screenshot of exact chemical composition matter for any process that involves a moving or animated body?
A bricked computer with a corrupt boot loader is chemically the same as one that actually works.
A car is chemically the same before and after you turn the key on its ignition.
A lightbulb is comprised of the same substances whether or not its turned on or off.
... Part of the difference between an alive and a dead body, is that the chemical reactions that constitute animating the thing into being alive ... have stopped.
A dead body is not metabolizing. It has no brain activity. The chemical reactions required to keep its heart beating are no longer happening.
Decomposition then sets in.
These are all differences in chemical processes.