Originally Posted by
PlayerID666
Umm, so, just because it has solar panels doesn't mean it's self-sustaining.
Why? It can absorb energy to fuel the processes which allow it's existence. Cognition, motor function, sensory processes, etc. Hypothetically it can repair itself, and build replicas (modified or not). It could have an argument with you, or terminate your existence. How would you categorize such an entity, if it has a human mind?
Also, having examined your article, it doesn't actually say anything that backs you up really.
In fact: "Work in A-Life shifts our focus on the processes in living things rather than the material constituents of their structures per se (Emmeche 1994)."
Maybe it's just too subtle for you to pick up.
"Their goal is to place life as it is known on earth in a larger conceptual context of any possible forms of life (Langton 1989, 1995). Work in A-Life shifts our focus on the processes in living things rather than the material constituents of their structures per se."
You may notice all the qualifiers I gave involve processes, not "material constituents."
What you listed are indeed processes, but what about larger conceptual context? If an organism lacks 1 of those, is it then not alive? What if it lacks 2 of those? For a biologist, the line may be clear. Philosophically, it is much more arbitrary.