The beginning of life is often a matter of debate.
Life is the ability to be born, grow, reproduce and die . This is the most common meaning of this term, which can be defined from various perspectives but is usually associated with biology . In this sense, life is that which distinguishes men, animals and plants, for example, from objects such as a rock or a table.
The etymological origin of the word life is found in Latin. Specifically, it comes from the word vita , which in turn comes from the Greek term bios . All of them mean, precisely, "life" .
Life for biology and religion
It can be said that life always includes a series of stages such as birth , growth , development , maturation , aging and death . To determine when life begins and when it ends, we can resort to different postulates since biology, religion and philosophy , for example, have different views.
When we see a man walking or a dog running, there is no doubt that we are dealing with living beings. It is more complex, however, to find the beginning and end of that existence . Religious questions mix with science to affirm (or deny) that life begins from the first moment of fertilization , which would be equivalent to affirming that abortion is indefectibly a murder (it ends a life). Other positions maintain that the fetus in its first stages cannot be considered a living being.
Something similar happens with death (i.e. the end of life). The irreversible cessation of brain activity (known as brain death ) is equivalent for science to the end of life, even if the person continues breathing.
For religion , meanwhile, life is the union of body and soul . After death, the soul reaches Paradise and can, according to some beliefs, be reincarnated in another body.
Life is also the state of activity of organic beings and the internal force that allows those who possess it to act. Another way of interpreting life is linked to the capacity of a physical being to manage its internal resources to adapt to the changes that occur in its environment .
Plants also have life.
Decisions about death
There are many ways in which a person's life can come to an end: it may be as a consequence of an illness , an accident, etc. However, when death occurs voluntarily, it is because the person has chosen to commit suicide . Personal, work or family problems are causes that can lead an individual, in certain contexts and under certain circumstances, to make the tragic decision to end his or her existence.
However, we cannot forget that there is another term that is closely related to both life and death: euthanasia , which can be defined as the action carried out by a person with the clear objective of avoiding suffering to another individual who is in the final moments of his or her existence.
In other words, what is done is to accelerate the death of a being who is suffering painfully. This can be done either with the consent of the patient or simply by personal decision.
Euthanasia is one of the most controversial issues in recent decades around the world, with two opposing positions being established: those who defend it and those who reject it outright for ethical reasons. The former maintain that it allows the dignity of human life to be defended, while those who oppose euthanasia consider that carrying it out is an attack on the inviolability of life.
Cells and life
It is often said that living beings have cells as the basic units of their composition. Each human being has about 30 billion cells that allow the body to have a structure and function properly.
Cells make nutrition , energy production and the transfer of hereditary material through DNA possible, for example. It should be noted that cells can reproduce independently and that, when they undergo functional, chemical and morphological modifications that cannot be reversed, they also die.
Metabolism is the set of chemical and physical processes carried out by cells to achieve the synthesis or degradation of substances, transforming or using energy. Metabolic processes, therefore, can be part of anabolism (complex molecules are synthesized from simpler ones) or catabolism (substances are degraded to generate others of lesser complexity). All actions and procedures essential for life, from blood circulation to breathing, depend on metabolism since they require the conversion or use of energy.
Metabolism is associated with homeostasis , which is a property of living beings that allows them to maintain internal stability by compensating for changes in the environment through the exchange of energy and matter. Blood pressure, temperature regulation and blood oxygen levels are some of the variables controlled by homeostasis, making life possible.
In a philosophical sense, it is often said that happiness is the goal of life.
Beyond the biological
Leaving aside biological and physiological issues, each person understands his or her life as his or her existence . There are as many ways of life or forms of life as there are human beings on Earth , although all members of the species share certain patterns, attributes or aspirations.
Human beings live in society and it is often considered that the basis of this society is the family . It is normal for each person to build their daily life based on family ties, dedicating themselves to exercising parenthood or motherhood , taking care of their children and sharing moments with siblings, uncles, grandparents, grandchildren, cousins, etc.
In order to build a family, it is common to form a couple , which may or may not be formalized through marriage . This is usually the family unit, although there are other ways of establishing social ties. Friendship , in this context, also builds very important bonds for social functioning.
Although each person has his or her own motivation and interests, broadly speaking, happiness is the goal of life. This happiness can be found in the love of family and friends, in contact with nature , in the enjoyment of art , or in the acquisition of knowledge , to mention just a few possibilities. The important thing is to consider that, beyond the essential physical needs that must be satisfied for existence to be possible, life acquires meaning, relevance, or transcendence according to what each person does with their time and abilities.
Returning to what was said above about euthanasia, there are those who claim that limiting oneself to breathing or maintaining homeostasis "is not life" . What is understood as a full life means carrying out a satisfactory experience based on one's values, in freedom and with the hope of achieving one's dreams .