# Death and Naturalism



## Davidius (Jun 7, 2007)

What is the naturalistic explanation for death? Why do cells stay alive for a certain amount of time before deteriorating and ultimately dying? Why don't they just grow forever?


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## BobVigneault (Jun 7, 2007)

Entropy, heat-death, you can't escape it. Everything dies.


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## Davidius (Jun 7, 2007)

BobVigneault said:


> Entropy, heat-death, you can't escape it. Everything dies.



Doesn't entropy say that everything moves towards disorder? Is that the same thing as cells dying? 

Why can entropy be used to explain death but discarded when evolution is brought up?


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## SRoper (Jun 7, 2007)

I don't think entropy is actually a good explanation. The input of chemical energy could theoretically keep entropy from being an issue.

I have a friend whose area of research is aging. I shall ask her if you don't get a good response soon.


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## Davidius (Jun 7, 2007)

SRoper said:


> I don't think entropy is actually a good explanation. The input of chemical energy could theoretically keep entropy from being an issue.
> 
> I have a friend whose area of research is aging. I shall ask her if you don't get a good response soon.



I appreciate it.


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## aleksanderpolo (Jun 7, 2007)

In the naturalistic worldview, death is just a certain collective behavior of molecules. Before death, molecules in a cell can react in a certain way, after death, molecules in a cell react in a different way.

Which brings the question, why the outrage when an innocent man is killed in a naturalistic worldview? It's just chemical reactions! Are we outraged when we see a chain of chemical reactions?


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## SRoper (Jun 14, 2007)

Here's my friend's reply:



> You have asked quite a question. There is no definitive, all-encompassing explanation for aging. Many times in science it seems that we can learn about a topic and make practical advances or improvements without every really understanding it. With all those qualifiers I will give you a couple of the common theories for why we and our cells age.
> 
> The easiest conceptually are the Wear and Tear theories. Damage to proteins accumulates over the years and the cell just gets too many broken parts to keep working. Alternately, it is damage to DNA that accumulates then the cell dies when it can no longer function.
> 
> ...


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## gwine (Jun 15, 2007)

CarolinaCalvinist said:


> Doesn't entropy say that everything moves towards disorder? Is that the same thing as cells dying?
> 
> Why can entropy be used to explain death but discarded when evolution is brought up?



Maybe it has something to do with the idea of a closed system _vs._ an open system?

I like the food theory. I remember reading a while back a study that people who eat less live longer (or maybe it just seems so.) Another good reason to not eat that second and third helping.


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