COLEGIUL NAȚIONAL ”GHEORGHE LAZĂR” SIBIU

Lucrare pentru obținerea

Atestatului de competență lingvistică

Limba engleză – bilingv

Candidat: Toader Andreea-Maria

Clasa a XII-a E

Profesor coordonator:

Iohannis Carmen

2020
”GHEORGHE LAZĂR” NATIONAL COLLEGE SIBIU

Questions about life

Student: Toader Andreea-Maria

Advisor:

Iohannis Carmen

2020
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………1

1. The history of life. How did humans appear?.........................................................................3

2. Culture. How did it keep humans from extinction?................................................................7

3.

Imagi_nation………………………………………………………………………………..10

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………15

Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………….16
 1

Introduction

I chose “What is life?” as a research paper subject not in order to try to give an answer

to this wide and unanswerable question (at least not by a high-school student), but in order to

make people who read this paper (and definitely myself) get closer to what an answer may

sound or look like. I don’t know if I am able to get where I want to get with this research

paper or just raise more questions, but even curiosity on this subject may be good to

understanding the meaning and purpose of life.

When you think about life what comes first to your mind? Routine? Your job?

Family? Health? Breathing? Surviving? You are alive. I am alive. The birds we can hear

singing are alive, and also the trees outside my window. However, snow falling from the

clouds is not alive. The paper you’re reading this research paper is not alive, neither is a chair

or a table. The parts of a chair that are made of wood were once alive, but they aren’t any

longer. If you were to burn the wood in a fire, the fire would not be alive either. What is it that

defines life? How can we tell that one thing is alive and another is not? Most people have an

intuitive understanding of what it means for something to be alive. However, it’s surprisingly

hard to come up with a precise definition of life. Science can help us get more answers to

questions concerning life or that imply life. But can science give us the answer about what life

itself is?

Science is usually known as the field which has the most undeniable and

uninterpretable facts and definitions. For most terms, the definitions may vary a little, but it

gets us to the same meaning. However, science has not yet managed to give us a common

definition of life. If you try to find a definition of life, different dictionaries, as Oxford,

Cambridge, won’t give you one specific definition of what life is, but instead, they give you
around 15 definitions each. The sciences that study life are biology and chemistry. Although

these sciences are concerned with

the study of life, biologists and chemists don’t agree on what “life” actually is. They have

proposed hundreds of ways to define it, but none of them has actually been widely accepted,

and this is why, for the general public, a dictionary can’t really give a definition, because they

will use terms like organisms, animals, plants, synonyms or examples of life, which sends us

round in circles. Many definitions of life are operational definitions—they allow us to

separate living things from nonliving ones, but they don’t actually pin down what life is.
 3

Chapter 1: The history of life. How did humans appear?

18.8 billion years ago: The beginning of Physics. Matter and energy appear.

The beginning of Chemistry. Atoms and molecules appear.

4.5 billion years ago: The beginning of Planet Earth.

3.8 billion years ago: The beginning of Biology. The first organisms appear.

The earliest evidence of life, discovered in 3.8 billion-year-old sedimentary rocks from

western Greenland, were 2 species of single-celled organisms that are Prokaryotes (organisms

that do not have a differentiated nucleus; they do not have a nuclear envelope and are the

simplest organisms that exist on Earth). Prokaryotes are represented by bacteria and archaea,

which are actually related. Coexisting bacteria and archaea were the dominant form of life in

the early Archean Epoch (4 to 2.5 billion years ago). During this period of time, the Earth’s

crust had cooled enough to allow the formation of continents, life started to form and many of

the major steps in early evolution are thought to have taken place in this environment.

Around 3.5 billion years ago, prokaryotes developed their way of nutrition, which is

Photosynthesis. Developing photosynthesis, they consumed Carbon dioxide from the

atmosphere and determined a buildup of their waste product, Oxygen, in the air, leading to

The Great Oxygenation Event (GOE), beginning around 2.4 billion years ago. The

consequence of GOE was the development of eukaryotes, the other organizational form of the

living cell. In contrast to prokaryotes, eukaryotic organisms have a nuclear envelope and have

more complex cells, with organelles (specialized subunits within a cell that have specific

functions; example: the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell; it transforms chemical
substances into energy). Eukaryotes are mostly represented by multicellular organisms:

Protozoa, Fungi, Plants and

Animals. The earliest evidence of eukaryotes, however, was a single-celled organism, which

dates from 1.85 billion years ago, and while they may have been present earlier, their

diversification accelerated when they started using oxygen in their metabolism (the set of life

sustaining chemical reactions in organisms). It is thought that the eukaryotes were created

from the symbiosis of two prokaryotes (symbiosis is the interaction between two different life

forms that live together for the benefit of both of them). In this hypothesis, one bacteria (the

smaller organism) and one archaea (the bigger organism) blended together; the bacteria

became the nucleus of the cell and the archaea was the host, the body of the cell; this is how

the single-celled eukaryotes appeared on Earth, or at least it is the best hypothesis up to now.

Later, around 1.7 billion years ago, multicellular organisms began to appear, with

differentiated cells, performing specialized functions (example: neurons, skin cells, sexual

cells etc.).

Eukaryotes went on with their evolution, becoming more complex organisms and

extending to terrestrial life (at the beginning they evolved in the ocean). The earliest complex

eukaryote was a land plant that dates back to around 850 million years ago. This plant was the

first plant that stopped looking algae-like; algae-like land plants dated back to even a billion

years ago.

Later on in the evolution of living creatures, vertebrates started to walk the earth about

525 million years ago during the Cambrian explosion. The Cambrian explosion was an event

that happened around 541 million years ago when most major animal phyla appeared in the

fossil record (a phylum is a level of classification below kingdom and above class; example:
Arthropoda, Mollusca, Brachiopoda). It lasted for about 13-25 million years and resulted in

the divergence of most modern pluricellular animals phyla, as exemplified above. The event

was accompanied by major diversification of other organisms. Before the Cambrian

explosion, most organisms were simple, composed of individual cells occasionally organized

in colonies (two

or more individuals living in close association with one another for mutual benefit such as

stronger defence or the ability to attack bigger prey). As the rate of diversification

subsequently accelerated, the variety of life began to resemble that of today. Almost all

present animal phyla appeared during this period. During this period, the Earth was dominated

by synapsids, which are the ancestors of mammals, but most of this group became extinct 252

million years ago, during Permian-Triassic extinction. During the recovery from this

catastrophe, archosaurs became the most abundant land vertebrates; one archosaur group, the

dinosaurs, dominated the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. After the Cretaceous–Paleogene

extinction event (66 million years ago) killed off the non-avian dinosaurs, mammals increased

rapidly in size and diversity. Such mass extinctions may have accelerated evolution by

providing opportunities for new groups of organisms to diversify.

The evolution of humans may be considered a recent one, comparing it to the other

organisms on Earth. The last common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees went extinct 6

million years ago, which means that 6 million years ago was the moment when humans and

chimpanzees started differentiating for good. The first “pure” human species appeared in

Africa 2.5 million years ago, and eventually spread into more species; 100,000 years ago,

there were at least eight homo species (homo rudolfensis, homo erectus, homo

neanderthalensis, homo ergaster, homo heidelbergensis, homo habilis, homo floresiensis,

homo sapiens). These species were different due to their different geographical habitats.
Homo floresiensis and homo sapiens were the last human species. The theories concerning the

extinction of homo floresiensis say that homo sapiens evolved differently, mainly developing

brain size and intellectuality, in contrast with homo floresiensis who developed their physical

strength. Homo sapiens, as we already know, want to conquer everything that there is to

conquer, so they started to emigrate to other parts of the land that they didn’t cover. When

they got to the Eurasian part 13,000 years

ago, they found homo floresiensis, who they fought and won the battles, because even though

homo floresiensis were, physically, more powerful, sapiens were smarter, they crafted

weapons and had strategies for their fights. But the most important aspect of their strategy

was their unique way of communicating, which was only found in homo sapiens. This

hypothesis shows that not only homo floresiensis had to suffer when homo sapiens started

discovering the Earth, but also all the other homo species that got extinct since homo sapiens

appeared in East Africa 200,000 years ago.

Throughout time, new life species appeared and other species went extinct, which

determined life to evolve and get more complex. Today, approximately 1 trillion species live

on Earth of which only 1.75-1.8 million have been named and 1.6 million documented in a

central database. These currently living species represent less that 1% of all species that have

ever lived on Earth.

Chapter 2: Culture. How did it keep humans from extinction?

Bret Weinstein is an American biologist and professor at Evergreen State College in

Washington. He developed a theory on how culture kept homo sapiens alive, and why it can

be even considered one of the most important factors that kept homo sapiens from extinction.

Our genetics is composed of genes, which are a part of our DNA. All of the genetic

information is called genome. The genome and its characteristics are hereditary transmitted

within the species and cannot be changed (without special interventions). We are born with

certain features that are specific to our species, to our family, to our parents. We are born with

black hair, blue eyes, we are shorter, taller, we have freckles, or we don’t, or we only have

them during summer etc. All of these (and many more) are features that we are born with. But

what about our culture? Our language? Or what music we like to listen to? What about the

books we read, the kind of humor we find funny, or the god we believe in? These are not

features we are born with, but we assume that they are stored inside our brain, there’s where

they should be, right? Well, the answer is partially yes. Our brain stores the information, but

the question is: where and how exactly does it store the information and how do we develop

interest on this cultural side of our lives?

Human beings, like all creatures, are the product of adaptive evolution, but they are

highly unusual amongst evolved creatures. In order to understand them it is very important to

recognize certain things that make us different from even the most similar creatures, like

chimpanzees.

The most important thing is something Bret Weinstein calls the omega principle. The

omega principle specifies the relationship between human culture and human genome. The
most important thing to realize about humans is that a tremendous amount of what we are is

not

housed in our genomes; it is housed in a cultural layer

that is passed on outside our genes. Culture is vastly

more flexible, more plastic and more quickly evolving

in an adaptive sense than genes, which is why, in fact,

cultural evolution came about in human beings; it

allows human beings to switch what they are doing and

how they are doing it much more quickly than they

could if all information was that was adapting was

stored inside the DNA. The omega principle can only be found in human genome, and this

explains how we developed communication, which is at the bottom of human evolution (as I

said in chapter one, this made us win the battles against the other homo species, as well as

survive predators that are faster and more powerful).

Scientists have identified differences between homo species’ way of living. Other

homo species used to live in caves, and not make a home out of them. Despite of the other

human species, homo sapiens used to decorate their caves; they started by painting them.

After some time, when they developed their tools and skills, they started making sculptures of

animals out of bones and rocks. When they developed even more their sculptural talents, they

discovered how to make music instruments out of bones, rocks, wood. They combined

singing with their voice and instruments and they started making specific songs for their tribe

in order to communicate, to find each other and mark their presence. This is considered one of

the first ways of communication, as well as, of course, sign language. All of these aspects

were added to the “cultural layer”, connected to the genome; this, combined with the effects
that music has over the brain (development of synapses, growth of the brain and improvement

of motor skills and learning capacity) has led to using specific sounds for specific words or

actions, which

created, eventually, the languages. Languages allowed us to understand each other, to create

families, tribes, communities, which are the only chance of survival if you’re a homo sapiens

in a jungle (literally a jungle or, metaphorically, a big city nowadays).

Chapter 3: Imagi_nation

70,000 years ago, our ancestors were not significant, they were just another species of

animals that walked the Earth. The most important thing to know about prehistoric humans is

that they were not important. Their impact on the world was not greater than that of fish, birds

or wolves. Today, in contrast, we rule this planet. And the question is: how did we get from

being insignificant, minding our business in one corner of Africa to being the rulers of an

entire planet?

Usually, we look for the difference between us and other living creatures on the

individual level. We want to believe that there is something special about us, our bodies, our

brains, that makes us superior to a cat or a cow or a chimpanzee. If you take a homo sapiens

and a chimpanzee and put them together on some lonely island, and they have to fight for

survival to see who survives better, I would definitely place my bet on the chimpanzee, not on

my species. And this is not something that is wrong with us personally. If we’d choose any

human and put them on an island with a chimpanzee, the chimpanzee would do much better.

The real difference between humans and all the other forms of life is not on an

individual level; it is on a collective level. Homo sapiens are in control of the planet because

we are the only species that can cooperate both flexibly and in very large numbers. There are

other animals that can cooperate in large numbers (like ants, bees), but they don’t do it

flexibly; their cooperation is rather very rigid. In order to make it easier to understand, I will

give an example: bees cannot execute the queen and establish a republic of bees, or a

communist dictatorship of worker bees. Other animals, like wolves, elephants, dolphins,

chimpanzees, can cooperate a lot more flexibly than bees, but they do it in very small
numbers. For example, cooperation among chimpanzees is based on an intimate knowledge.

I’m a chimpanzee and you’re a chimpanzee,

11

and I want to cooperate with you. In order to do that, I need to know you personally. What

kind of chimpanzee are you? A nice one? An evil one? Trustworthy? If I don’t know you, I

cannot cooperate with you.

The only animal that uses both abilities to cooperate (flexibly and in large numbers) is

us, homo sapiens. One versus one, or even 15 versus 15, chimpanzees might do better than us.

But if you compare 1,000 humans and 1,000 chimpanzees, the humans will win easily, and

that is just for the simple reason that 1,000 chimpanzees cannot cooperate at all. Just imagine

placing 1,000 chimpanzees in the same place, in a square, or in a stadium. What about

100,000 chimpanzees? It would be chaos. In contrast, humans gather in such places in tens of

thousands, and (usually) what we get is not chaos. What we get is a very sophisticated and

effective network of cooperation. All the big achievements of humans, from building the

pyramids to flying to the moon have been based not on individual abilities, but on the ability

to be cooperative.

Cooperation is, of course, not always nice. All the horrible things that humans had

done throughout history are also based on cooperation. Prisons are a system of cooperation;

slaughterhouses are a system of cooperation; concentration camps are a system of

cooperation. Chimpanzees don’t have prisons, slaughterhouses or concentration camps.

Supposedly, I managed to convince you that yes, we rule the world thanks to our

cooperative skills. The next question would be: How exactly do we do that? What enables us,

alone, of all animals and species (which are not a small number, as I said at the end of chapter
one), to cooperate in such a way? The answer is pretty simple. Our imagination does that. We

can cooperate flexibly with countless amount of other individuals because we can create

12

fictions, fictional stories. And as long as everybody believes in the same fiction, everybody

obeys and follows the same rules.

Illustration by Marie Mainguy

based on a belief in human rights. But what are human rights? Human rights are just a story

we have invented. They are not objective reality; if you take a human, you can see and touch

their body,

13

their hand, their face; but you can’t touch human rights, because they are not real; we have

invented them. The only place you can find rights are in the stories we created and spread

around in the last few centuries. They may be very beneficial to our world, they can be very

good stories that helped us, but they are still fictional stories that we’ve invented.

The same happens in the political field. The most important aspects in politics are

states and nations. But what are states and nations? They are not objective reality. A mountain

is objective reality, which you can see, touch, smell. But a nation or a state, like Britain, The

US, Germany, is just a story that we invented and got really attached to it.

The economic field is not less fictional; actually, I consider it the most fictional of all.

The most important players in today’s global economy are companies and corporations.

Probably most people work for corporations, like Google, Toyota or KFC. What are exactly

these things? And what do corporations do all day? Mostly, they try to make money. And yet,

what is money? Again, money is not an objective reality; it has no objective value. You

cannot eat it, you cannot drink it, you cannot wear it. But then there came along these master

storytellers (bankers, the finance ministers, prime ministers) and they tell us these very

convincing stories: “Do you see this green piece of paper? It is actually worth ten bananas.”

And if I believe it, and you believe it, and everybody believes it, it actually works. I can take

this worthless green piece of paper, go to the supermarket, give it to a complete stranger I’ve

never seen before, and actually get ten bananas for it. You could never do that with
chimpanzees. Chimpanzees trade, of course: “You give me a coconut, I give you a banana.”

That could work out, but if you give me a worthless piece of paper and you except me to give

you a banana? No way! “What do you think I am, a human?”

14

Money is the most successful story invented by humans, because everybody believes

it. Not everybody believes in God, or in human rights, or in nationalism, but everybody

believes in money. Take, for example, Osama Bin Laden. He hated American politics and

American culture and American religion, but he had no objection to American dollars. He was

quite fond of them, actually. (Yuval Noah Harari)

Conclusion

From my perspective, humans got here, on this planet, by accident; or by good luck, if

I express it from the positive point of view.

We have a long history of evolution, our body went through multiple and complex

changes throughout time; especially our brains. The planet and the environment helped us

develop our brains in such ways that we were able to create extraordinary things; but we have

to keep in mind that we did all of these extraordinary things just because we were able to

develop a different style of cooperation, which led us to being the ones that make choices on

this planet, and eventually the ones that can make the biggest and most important – or drastic

– changes.

We, humans, control the world because we live in a dual reality. All other animals live

in an objective reality. Their reality consists of objective entities, like rivers, trees, lions,

elephants. In our world, too, there are rivers and trees and lions and elephants, but over the

centuries, we have constructed on top of this objective reality a second layer of fictional

reality, made of fictional entities, like nations, money, corporations. And what is amazing is

that as history unfolded, this fictional reality became more and more powerful so that today,

the most powerful forces in the world are these fictional entities. Today, the very survival of

trees, rivers, lions and elephants depends on the decisions and wishes of fictional entities, like

the United States, like Google, like the World Bank – entities that exist only in our

imagination.
 16

Bibliography

bbc.com. “Did early humans or even animals invent music?”. 7 September 2014.
<http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20140907-does-music-pre-date-modern-man >. Accessed
19 January 2020

Schrodinger, Erwin. What is life? The Physical Aspect of the Living Cell. Dublin, 1944.
Print.

Wikipedia.com :
- “Cambrian explosion” <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambrian_explosion>, Accessed
17 January 2020

- “Common descent” < https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_descent>, Accessed 17

- “Evolutionary history of life”

- “Timeline of human evolution”

Youtube.com.
- “Why humans run the world”. 24 July 2015. Yuval Noah Harari.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzj7Wg4DAbs&t=20s>. Accessed 20 January
2020.

- “The Social Brain: culture, change and evolution”. 5 February 2018. Bret Weinstein.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=G4NTbDD6PGQ&list=PLjvKj3Ri7Za1qU2AfYBB2C-TgZBGp-wJy&index=3>.
Accessed 20 January 2020

Yuval Noah Harari. Sapiens. A brief history of humankind. Israel, 2011. Print.