What is Life in a Deterministic Universe? [closed]

Question

In a deterministic universe, where every event is a result of preceding causes, the distinctions we make between living and non-living entities might be an illusion. Our perceptions—colors, sounds, and even the idea of life itself—are simply the outcomes of chemical and physical events. These patterns are not inherently different from other events in the universe; they are merely interpreted by our brains in specific ways due to our biological programming.

Consequently, questioning whether there is life on other planets becomes less about identifying entities that are 'alive' or 'dead' and more about understanding different modes of perception. What we categorize as life could be vastly different elsewhere in the universe, with other organisms possibly perceiving us as nothing more than sequences of chemical reactions.

The common assumption that extraterrestrial life must be similar to us in interaction and perception might be narrow-minded. Given the deterministic nature of the universe, the likelihood of encountering life forms that interact with their environments as we do is slim.

Given this premise, how should we define 'life' in a deterministic universe?

Answer 1

You say:

In a deterministic universe, where every event is a result of preceding causes, the distinctions we make between living and non-living entities might be an illusion.

Well, if that's the case, then why not in a non-deterministic universe too?

You say:

Our perceptions—colors, sounds, and even the idea of life itself—are simply the outcomes of chemical and physical events. These patterns are not inherently different from other events in the universe; they are merely interpreted by our brains in specific ways due to our biological programming.

Well, here you are suggesting that perceptions are defined by the outcomes of physical events that ... are common (via determinism) throughout the universe. So, it must follow that our biological programming is based on these patterns. From this, it follows that all life, throughout the universe, should have taken the same approach in evolving. And if not, how is this related to determinism?

So, what you then say:

Given the deterministic nature of the universe, the likelihood of encountering life forms that interact with their environments as we do is slim.

at leat to me, is a contradiction.

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When we say deterministic universe - in physics - we mean that the state of the universe at any given time and the basic laws of physics fully determine the universe's backward history and forward evolution.

Answer 2

Defining life does not require one to decide between common ontological commitments. Dualists, monists, naturalists, supernaturalists, and so on all agree that there exist sequences of processes with various characteristics. Therefore defining life to have as one of its meanings a particular kind of sequence of processes requires no selection between these ontological commitments.

Definitions are arbitrary, but science fiction authors and speculative exobiologists tend towards some implicit approximation of:

natural life

1. a system of processes which is: self-duplicating, dissipative, subject to occasional heritable copy errors which can increase the size or complexity of the self-duplicating part of the system, and acted on thereby by selection pressures.
2. the category whose members are such systems

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Above I tried to answer the spirit of the question. As for the literal question, it's a category error.

Given this premise, how should we define 'life' in a deterministic universe?

If we start with the premise that everything, including our thoughts and how they make us feel, is determined, reasoning from premises is meaningless and should is a nonsense concept. To care about any conclusions we might make about deterministic universes, we have to start with the assumption that we don't live in one.

Answer 3

Kant's 3rd antinomy offers two contradictory proofs regarding whether the world is deterministic or not.

I.e. Arguing for freedom (spontaneity): With an infinite causal chain, there's no identifiable first cause that ultimately triggers events. But we know events happen so there must be a first event. (An infinite chain with no starting point does not provide a clear reason for anything happening.)

Vs. With freedom (spontaneity) any event could just happen, but that contradicts the principle of sufficient reason, so there is no freedom.

Accordingly the OP's premise of a deterministic universe is not founded on reason and arbitrarily confines the possible definitions of life.

Answer 4

The question of whether the Universe is fully deterministic is irrelevant to the question of how we define life. Yes, it is possible that our conception of life might be limited, in the sense that there could be entities in other parts of the Universe that might cause us to revise or extend our definition of life were we to encounter them, but that could be the case whether the Universe is deterministic or not, and unless or until that happens, our current definition remains fit for purpose.

Answer 5

The premise of your question is faulty:

The idea that the universe could be deterministic came of age with the huge success of Newtonian mechanics. However, Aristotle noted that some philosophers said that chance could be a cause and this was explicitly included in ancient Greek atomism with their notion of the swere or climamen. This notion of an inherently indeterministic universe came to prominence with the discovery of QM.

The notion of consciousness is, despite much effort, still remains a mystery and isn't generally taken to be mechanistic in its essentials. Conciousness then is still the main aporia in how we think about the universe mechanically in the most broadest fashion.

Answer 6

In a deterministic universe there can be no life. For the same reason there can be no deterministic universes.

For a universe (and life within) to exist, it must either:

1. Evolve, or
2. Be created by a divine entity.

Both alternatives are excluded from determinism. A deterministic system does not evolve, its complexity and entropy remain constant. Divine creation requires free will, which is not present in deterministic conditions.