Why organisms are more than machines

"There are basic technical grounds to be skeptical of that claim, but beyond that, a much deeper issue lies at the boundary between science and philosophy: What makes life different from non-life? Why is a rock inert and insensate, while even the simplest cell manifests open-ended activity in the relentless pursuit of staying alive? Since the only systems that indisputably display intelligence are alive, if we can't understand life, we're probably missing something essential about intelligence."

"Sixty years ago, an influential but little-known philosopher named Hans Jonas gave a potent, creative, and radical answer to this question of what makes life different from non-life. In the decades since, the power and reach of his perspective have gained traction. Today, for a growing group of researchers - in fields ranging from neuroscience to the physics of complex systems - Jonas has become an incisive voice arguing forcefully that organisms are more than just machines, and minds are more than just computers."

Maximum AI hype claims imminent superintelligence, but technical grounds justify skepticism. A deeper question asks what distinguishes life from non-life, noting rocks are inert while even simplest cells show open-ended activity pursuing survival. Intelligence is observed only in living systems, so understanding life is essential to understanding intelligence. Hans Jonas proposed a radical answer to what makes life different from non-life, and his perspective has gained traction among researchers in neuroscience and complex-systems physics. Jonas was born in 1903, studied phenomenology for his PhD under Martin Heidegger, fled Nazi Germany, served in a Jewish brigade in the British Army, and later repudiated Heidegger publicly.

Read at Big Think