It can be said that a person can be defined as an accumulation of their lifes experiences, that human life is a continuous process and like all processes it has a start and it has a finish. At which point then can we pinpoint the start of the human process When does life begin for a human being Scientifically speaking for something to be considered alive it must first fulfill certain conditions. It must first exhibit growth, it must be able convert nutrients into energy and it must respond to outside stimuli. So it goes without saying that the first moment an individual exhibits these traits is the moment they are technically considered alive (Arizona 2007)..
Growth in general terms can be defined as when an organism starts to manifest itself as a living being wherein it proceeds upon the natural process of reaching maturity then eventually death.
If you go along this line of thought then the idea that an organisms initial stage of growth no matter how miniscule or insignificant it may seem at the time is the start of the process of its life cycle of growth, maturity then eventual death. For humans the initial start of their stages of growth comes at the moment of conception wherein the sperm enters the ovum and starts a process of rapid cellular division. If growth is considered a factor whether to determine if something is alive or not then under this line of thought the zygote (combination of sperm and egg) is already alive. Things arent always as cut and dry as that though. If growth is considered as the only factor to something being alive then cancer which can grow at an accelerated rate can be considered alive as well which is a ridiculous notion since cancer is a result of the bodies own biological process.
Next we consider conversion of nutrients into energy. The zygote within the womb is capable of drawing nutrients from its surroundings to aid in its growth. While certainly being a requirement to all living species the ability to convert nutrients into energy can also be used by cancer since it can also multiply at a rapid pace using nutrients taken from the body itself and cancer is not considered alive.
Now we come to response from outside stimuli, The zygote within the womb is most certainly capable of being affected by outside factors namely the temperature of the body, the condition of the mother, what is consumed and all sorts of external stimuli however cancer is also affected by outside stimuli in the same manner.
So far weve established the fact that the zygote has most of the characteristics of a living organism however weve also established that cancer also has similar characteristics and it is not considered alive by the scientific community. So how then do we consider something to have life We can tell when something is biological however for it to have life is something else entirely different.
In my opinion we can consider conception as the start of life due to several factors. For one the zygote if allowed to and encouraged to grow will eventually become a living breathing individual, unlike cancer which will not become anything. Namely there is a set plan to its growth. After conception the zygote connects itself to the uterine wall in order to draw units from the mother. This shows a biological need to encourage its own growth, to mature and to become a whole organism which is a natural action of living organisms and lastly it is a widely considered scientific fact that conception brings about the birth of a new organism so the initial stages of an organism during conception is the starting phase of its life thereby making conception the start of life.
Growth in general terms can be defined as when an organism starts to manifest itself as a living being wherein it proceeds upon the natural process of reaching maturity then eventually death.
If you go along this line of thought then the idea that an organisms initial stage of growth no matter how miniscule or insignificant it may seem at the time is the start of the process of its life cycle of growth, maturity then eventual death. For humans the initial start of their stages of growth comes at the moment of conception wherein the sperm enters the ovum and starts a process of rapid cellular division. If growth is considered a factor whether to determine if something is alive or not then under this line of thought the zygote (combination of sperm and egg) is already alive. Things arent always as cut and dry as that though. If growth is considered as the only factor to something being alive then cancer which can grow at an accelerated rate can be considered alive as well which is a ridiculous notion since cancer is a result of the bodies own biological process.
Next we consider conversion of nutrients into energy. The zygote within the womb is capable of drawing nutrients from its surroundings to aid in its growth. While certainly being a requirement to all living species the ability to convert nutrients into energy can also be used by cancer since it can also multiply at a rapid pace using nutrients taken from the body itself and cancer is not considered alive.
Now we come to response from outside stimuli, The zygote within the womb is most certainly capable of being affected by outside factors namely the temperature of the body, the condition of the mother, what is consumed and all sorts of external stimuli however cancer is also affected by outside stimuli in the same manner.
So far weve established the fact that the zygote has most of the characteristics of a living organism however weve also established that cancer also has similar characteristics and it is not considered alive by the scientific community. So how then do we consider something to have life We can tell when something is biological however for it to have life is something else entirely different.
In my opinion we can consider conception as the start of life due to several factors. For one the zygote if allowed to and encouraged to grow will eventually become a living breathing individual, unlike cancer which will not become anything. Namely there is a set plan to its growth. After conception the zygote connects itself to the uterine wall in order to draw units from the mother. This shows a biological need to encourage its own growth, to mature and to become a whole organism which is a natural action of living organisms and lastly it is a widely considered scientific fact that conception brings about the birth of a new organism so the initial stages of an organism during conception is the starting phase of its life thereby making conception the start of life.
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