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12.2
The evolving meaning attached to "life"
 
  The word "life" and its historic meanings have existed in recorded culture for at least fifteen hundred years. The actual word "life" in English can be attributed to the word "lif" used in Old English and Old Saxon meaning- life, body.  
  The word is linked to the emergence of a religious and social philosophy of European Celtic mythology (around 550AD) that believed human beings possessed a special "quality of life", that vanishes at the point of death. This has often been described as the "essence of life", or the "fifth essence" after fire, water, earth and wind. "Losing" this essence has therefore been historically linked to human death for at least fifteen hundred years.  
  Prior to this period (550AD), there does not appear to be corresponding words in either Ancient Latin or Greek. This supports the argument that the word lif was created in both a social and religious (metaphysical) context.  
  It is no surprise then, that the word "lif " was quickly associated with another philosophical belief that all humans possess a special spirit called the "soul".  
  Philosophers (around 1350AD) speculated that this essence is derived from the presence of the "soul", which at the point of human death leaves the body. The belief of the soul leaving the body at death precedes the concept of the essence of life by at least one thousand years (around 600BC for the first writings on the concept of Soul).  
  Then around 1650, Renne Descartes published a historical work that for the first time provided a scientific basis for proving that human beings are aware and self aware. It was Descartes that wrote the now famous self aware proof of existence "I think, therefore I am."  
  In the past three to four hundred years, the historical usage of the word "life" has been extended to describe a wider quality which all plants and animals on Earth possess before a the state of death. Interestingly, this broadening of the definition of life has almost a direct correlation to the advancement of science into atomic and biologic areas. Every time science has proven that more objects in the Universe share similar qualities to humans, the philosophical definition of life has appeared to widen around ten to twenty years after the discovery.  
  In the last sixty years, a further attribute to what is "life", has been assigned being the quality of awareness. Therefore, almost all modern interpretations on the meaning of life includes as part of the definition of life a state of "awareness".  
12.2.1 The historical development of the word "life" and the awakening of humanity  
  That humanity fifteen hundred years ago recognized a special quality of being human and classified it as lif is the beginning of an amazing journey that has as its destination-today. That Descartes linked the unique quality of being human "life" as being definable through awareness " I think etc." is equally important.  
  Since the emergence of the word "life" fifteen hundred years ago, we have seen the growth of the word, to mean that all things in the Universe possess this same special essence, which we can openly define as both awareness and life meaning the same thing.  
  Indeed, everything you have read so far has shown that in order for the Universe to exist, the existence of the UCA had to precede the Universe's birth. We also saw that the only way to adequately describe the foundation of the Universe is via awareness, projected into dimension (in other words a "dream"). Furthermore, we have seen that the only way of making perfect sense of each and every level of matter is to understand that each particle has a unique perspective of the Universe and what its does and wants to do.  
  Therefore, the words life and awareness, life and awareness of matter, life and the Universe are all wholly interchangeable. By the modern "evolved" definition of life- everything in the Universe is very much alive. Only levels of unique self awareness change. Awareness as a whole never dies, only grows.  
  That we have reached this expanded definition of life now, at the beginning of the 21st century is a profound philosophical event as significant as any recent scientific discovery or cure for a disease. The awesome importance of humanity culturally permitting the expanded definition of life (that the Universe is alive) is not yet fully comprehended by 20th Century thinking philosophers or religious leaders. It has literally paved the way to the opening of understanding of what is awareness and Unique Collective Awareness.  
  (An interesting correlation exists in the general community acceptance of universal awareness (life) and the timing of this book at the beginning of the 21st Century, instead of 100 years ago or 200 years ago. In many ways, this book has arrived at a point where our awareness has never been greater and at the same time misaligned in certain key areas.)  
12.2.2 Every particle in the Universe (UCA) is uniquely self aware and therefore "alive" Every complex particle is aware and "alive"  
  It is an inherent understanding of the previous five chapters of this book that in order for the Universe to physically exist and function, every Unita in the Universe is uniquely self aware.  
  We have seen that the behaviour of particles seeming to be invisible, or "vanish" (in the case of electrons when they move sufficiently away from much larger particles) are directly attributable to the unique perceptions of atomic structures as "living" entities.  
  Further, we now understand that all behaviour at all levels of matter come from a perception of reality, not the underlying reality of the universe (which is a dream anyway). What this means is that everything by scientific definition can be said to be aware and therefore capable of being classed as "alive".  
12.2.3 There is no "line in the sand" that divides life and non-life  
  We saw that certain types of bonds occur at certain levels of matter and therefore certain levels and sophistication of self-awareness. We also saw that under certain conditions, groups of particles are able to form more complex shapes (personalities of unique-self awareness) and group into even more complex, specialized shapes (personalities of unique self-awareness).  
  From what we have discussed in this chapter, we can see that it is incorrect to classify an atom as non-alive and a molecule as being alive. It would be correct however, to describe an atom as being less structurally complex-less uniquely self aware/complex behaviour/unique personality compared to a molecule.  
  Therefore the question is what level of life or matter you wish to speak about? It may be from the Unita to Quarks and Electron Neutrinos, or from Atoms to Molecules. In all cases, there are clear boundaries between levels of complex shape and self-aware living personalities.  
  Our developed sense of unique self awareness as humans is as a direct result of the level of complex structure, density of particles, variety of specialization of communities of matter that adds up to our uniqueness of personality (behaviour). That we are more self aware than say a fish is in large part to the desire of the workings of all matter on the Earth toward this goal.  
  The bottom line is that there is no line between living matter and non-living matter in the Universe. There is only the level of unique-physical complexity and therefore unique-self awareness in form. As we have now stated repeatedly, it is the simplicity and ease with which Hydro-Carb-Oxygen based combinations can form under certain conditions that results in them being the basis for such things as human life.  
 
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