I see you want to control the conversation by saying what you think then telling others what not to say, doesn't seem very fair does it, if you don't want to hear anyone, why post? Is it just to hear people bounce back your own words/beliefs?

Sorry too bad, deal with it. No, we are not our brains nor heart alone, but either way, we are a work in progress, we are not born ~beings we become human beings it is a process by the mapping of our DNA. A ball of clay will always be a ball of clay until it is formed and created into a bowl, cup, plate, a vase, or something, who knows, but we'll all know when it is done. Therefore, like the ball of clay, it is all about its potential.

Maybe the question isn't when does life begin, but when is it a human being?

I see you want to control the conversation by saying what you think then telling others what not to say, doesn't seem very fair does it, if you don't want to hear anyone, why post? Is it just to hear people bounce back your own words/beliefs?

Sorry too bad, deal with it. No, we are not our brains nor heart alone, but either way, we are a work in progress, we are not born ~beings we become human beings it is a process by the mapping of our DNA. A ball of clay will always be a ball of clay until it is formed and created into a bowl, cup, plate, a vase, or something, who knows, but we'll all know when it is done. Therefore, like the ball of clay, it is all about its potential.

Maybe the question isn't when does life begin, but when is it a human being?

I'll try to be clearer. To determine what life is, one must look at several very different forms of life to find the commonality. What each creature does is irrelevant. What does each creature have in common? Life... certainly... what is the only commonality to every form of life? They have the ability to function... all function differently but all have the ability to function.

Now, turning to the two bodies you presented; one can function, one can not. Not only do all living things have the ability to function but things lacking life have no such ability. So, life is the ability to function,
life is functionality.

Your question was what is life. You asked for a scientific response. You got one.

As for your new slant, of course a baby is alive and so is a wart. What is being destroyed in an a******n is a living thing but only a thing, at least in the initial stages of development. What its potential might be is a very different question. Once that potential has been sufficiently developed, the considerations all change. The real issue is the one originally raised in this thread; at what point are we beings... instead of just things.

I think it matters because I am attempting to understand this world, its design and its function without the static generated by religious considerations.

If there is a God and religions represent it with even moderate accuracy, then human supremacy in that picture is clearly laid out. If there is no God then we are just another species of Earthly life and we really are not all that special. If that picture is accurate then we need to take extinction much more seriously. No matter how smart we think we are, if we are just one more life form then we need to consider our animal nature as far more important than homo sapiens ever has.

"I think, therefore I am"

That is what a "being" is...

I don't believe that God h**ed Esua...
That argument destroys the entire concept of free will...

And how about Jacob?

That had to have infuriated God something fierce....

My religion is reality and it will become the law of the land. It is completely predicated on the Hebrew Bible, aka the Old Testament. I have a perfect understanding of the scriptures and I am Holy, I do not sin. Holiness is perfection. The only reason I live is to serve the living God of Israel. I have come to bring righteousness, justice, and peace to the earth. Exodus 19:6. "And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation..." Proverbs 4:18. "But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day".

Romans 9:10-13
10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; 11(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to e******n might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) 12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. 13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I h**ed.
Good morning, friend Kyle,
I need sleep so I'll be short. I don't think foreknowledge on God's part destroys free will. ( Not predestination...foreknowledge)
Have a really great day!
David

Not kidding at all. I can direct you to a prior posting in which I was able to summarize my evidence for doubting. Example: Is there such a thing as a telephone pole? Look, see the pole beside the road; see the lineman on the pole with his telephone connected to the wires. Proof, there is a telephone pole, not to be confused with a telephone poll.


https://www.onepoliticalplaza.com/t-
156316-1.html

Faith can not be defined in spirituality..It simply is... Just as you have faith in your wife or child, if you have either, or simply faith in yourself..

Interesting debate and while there is no proof as you say about God, you nor anyone else has proof there isn’t a God..

Its choices made by the person in their personal beliefs.. We believe, you do not.. So be it...


… but, I really do/did not expect a response.

PeterS replied to me thus: "if you need fallacies to bolster your faith than you have no faith and if you have no faith how is it you think you can make it into that heaven of yours?"

This is hostile, condescending, judgemental and completely devoid of any facts about me, and you say you "appreciate the t***h of the statement."

How am I suppose to interpret that?

You want some logic and science?

Stephen Meyer holds a Ph.D. in the philosophy of science from the University of Cambridge. A former geophysicist and college professor, he now directs Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture.
God and the Origin of the Universe