this post was submitted on 21 Oct 2023
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Obscure Internet Images

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A place to post obscure images. Post images that people would likely never see without looking at this community.

Obscurity is a spectrum. Just don't post anything super mainstream. Your obscure images don't need to be interesting.

Link to your source if you have one.

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[–] TropicalDingdong 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

There are some schools of thought that any systems in thermodynamic disequilibrium should be considered in some way 'alive'. If it's in disequilibrium, if it has a way to transmit information over time, and if future systems vary based on the course of that information, I fail to see how different it is than any other form of life.

[–] dual_sport_dork 5 points 1 year ago

The classic thought experiment in this vein being: Is fire alive?

Fire meets many of the criteria commonly cited for qualifying as life. It requires oxygen, just like us. It "eats," consuming fuel. In so doing it also "reproduces," creating more fire. In a narrow sense, fire can also "evolve" into slightly different forms in response to its environment, buy consuming different fuels.

[–] morphballganon 4 points 1 year ago

Check out Star Trek: TNG episode The Quality of Life for a discussion on this topic. It's pretty good!