[Corpora-List] What is corpora and what is not?

[Laurence Anthony]

On Tue, Oct 9, 2012 at 9:53 AM, Alexander Yeh <asy at mitre.org> wrote:
>
> "There is no precise definition of what separates the living from the
> non-living."
>
> "Although there is no definitive resolution to the question of whether
> viruses can be considered living entities, their ability to pass on genetic
> information to future generations makes them major players in an
> evolutionary sense."

The point I was making was not about making a "correct" and "absolute"
definition. All definitions are open to corrections, adaptions,
variations, etc. In fact, I would argue that a discussion on
definition leads to a better understanding of the thing/phenomenon we
are trying to define.

Nevertheless, scientists are careful to use terms in a very clear and
precise way. Otherwise, they cannot communicate with each other.

 "There is no precise definition of what separates the living from the
non-living."

Maybe this is true in biology but I'm sure there is in other cases.
For example, most doctors and governments have a very precise
definition of whether or not a person is living or non-living. They
need it before deciding if we should bury the person or not!

Perhaps some people on this list would tell doctors that they are just
being silly and wasting everybody's time discussing whether somebody
is alive or dead. Perhaps the advice would be, "it's not important
whether somebody is "alive" or "dead"... it doesn't matter... it's a
silly discussion... the only important thing is the properties of the
person... are they moving... are they talking. Based on this, we can
decide whether or not to bury them."

And the doctor would reply, "OK, what properties do we need to look
at? And, what values do we assign to 'alive' and what properties do we
assign to 'dead'?

Isn't that a definition?

This discussion is definitely going off track. My point is a rather
simple one. Definitions are important!

If people would like to disagree with this point, I'm happy to agree
to disagree.

Laurence.

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