Oh! What is life? 'tis like a flower that blooms and then is gone Gone its little hour With all its beauty on Death comes and like a wintry day and like a wintry day it cuts the lovely flower away It cuts the lovely flower away Oh! What is life? 'tis like the bow that glistens in the sky We love to see its colors glow But while we look they die Life fails as soon today 'tis here, today, today 'tis here Tomorrow it may disappear Tomorrow it may disappear

Billie Eilish. 2021. From interview with Zane Lowe for premiere of "The World's a Little Blurry" album, February 25: “What is life?” Soft Tones. 1973. “What Is Life?” written by Carroll Armstrong and Rod Armstrong. Vinyl 7”, 45 RPM. Avco Records Corp — AV 4619: “What is life?” Erwin Schrödinger. 1949. “Do Electrons Think?” BBC Radio lecture: “There is no boundary between the animate and the inanimate. The same laws of physics and physical chemistry hold within the living body as outside.” Lee Stone. 1970. “What Is Life?” written by J. Misty, L. Stone. Vinyl 7”, 45 RPM. Breakout Records — BO 1003: “What is life? Is it all a giving? What is life? Is it only living? Who am I? Is this for real? I only know How foolish I feel…” J.B.S Haldane. 1957. “The Diversity and Unity of Life.” Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Memorial Lectures, delivered at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi, December 15-17. Broadcast by All India Radio: “I personally think there is no sharp line between living and non-living matter. George Harrison. 1970. “What Is Life?” On All Things Must Pass. 3 X Vinyl LP Album. Apple Records — STCH 639: Sash! 2012. “What Is Life?” written by Ralf Kappmeier, Sascha Lappessen, and Thomas Alisson. WAV Maxi-Single. Tokapi Recordings — TR 037: “What is life?” J.B.S Haldane. 1957. “The Diversity and Unity of Life.” Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Memorial Lectures, delivered at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi, December 15-17. Broadcast by All India Radio: “I do not think we can avoid the conclusion that some animal and plant species are evil.” Alex Najarian. 2022. “What Is Life?” https://soundcloud.com/alex-najarian/what-is-life: “What is life? What is life? What is fate?” NTER. 2015. “What Is Life?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKc6Y9IQNNQ . Swindle Media: “Life … What is life? I’m still trying to figure this shit the fuck out, man.” A Weirdo from Memphis. 2016. “What Is Life?” https://soundcloud.com/awfm-trill/sets/what-is-life: “What is life?” Lynn Margulis. 1984. “The Gaia Hypothesis.” Lecture to NASA employees: “In the early sixties, scientists were asked to develop a life-detection apparatus — that is, how can you tell a planet has a life on it? How can you define life in such a way that you can recognize it on other planets? Gas composition of the lower atmosphere, the temperature, the oxidation state — these aspects of the lower atmosphere are modified by the presence of living organisms in such a way as to regulate the atmosphere, to keep these aspects within a range suitable for life.” The Blessed Blend. 2010. “What Is Life?” On Tribal Thunder. RiverWind Productions: “What is life? What is life?” J.B.S Haldane. 1957. “The Diversity and Unity of Life.” Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Memorial Lectures, delivered at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi, December 15-17. Broadcast by All India Radio: “I am afraid that I am not always as polite as I should be to people who propound a philosophy of life after reading a few popular books on biology.”

What is life? One distinction that comes up is between living and not living. Non-living could be dead or never alive. Those are very different. They shape the question in very different ways. Are clouds living? Are horses living? Are computers living? I think the crucial question is to ask why you want to know. What do you want to know and why? And I think the answer probably quite generally is not simple. It’s not clear cut. Biologists never ask the question. That’s curious. Or at least not today in the second half of the twentieth century. It was a physicists’ question. I also thought there were features of the question that kept getting brushed aside — what is life? — yes, it didn’t exist. Obviously life existed. So what does that mean? It means that the category created by the question “What is life?” didn’t exist.