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When does life begin?

When does human life begin?


  • Total voters
    13
Hmmmm it's interesting. :p

After conception, cell is formed, and continues by dividing into many cells, which take on their 'roles' through the gradual process as the embryo grows and develops... taking place over an extended period of time, during which there is the growth of the nervous system, heart starts beating, various parts and functions come into being... until such time as he/she is recognisable as a 'baby' to our eyes (whether that is a considerable amount premature, or at the natural time of birth). :)

Naturally, this 'thing' is 'alive', otherwise all that could not take place... and so is the sperm and the egg alive before conception happened... and so are plants and amoeba alive. But i guess one significant difference is that if a sperm or an egg or indeed any other alive cell in the human (or animal!) body left alone, to live and develop naturally, they do not eventually develop into a being that we would recognise as human, or 'baby'. Only that combination of sperm and egg does that, in a way that one might say 'it has a life of its own!' (phrase we often use to describe something that's progressing and getting bigger/more complex than we would have thought probable! only it's normally not used in a literal way...!).

Of course, the zygote, fetus, embryo, baby, it's (up to a point) completely dependent on its mother; when it's taken out of the womb it can't live (will stop its processes of developing, simply dying)... however, can be kept alive as well by technology - both pre-implantation, at very beginning stages, created and kept in a lab, for ivf purposes; or later on, after a premature birth, when the baby (recognisable as such) is kept alive by technology.

So, there is a strong dependency there, and that continues well into the life outside the womb... even a child of 4 or 5 years wouldn't be able to survive on its own, without relying on the mother or another adult for food, drink and protection from the elements. In some circumstances if a person has certain kinds of disabilitys for example, they have some dependency throughout their life, even if they are adult, and even though their mental 'condition' may be good.

So, i find it difficult to think of life beginning in terms of 'dependency' or 'ability to live without [certain kinds of] support', because in some senses many people and types of creatures, while being distinctly 'alive' and also indivuduals, exist in some condition of dependency. (And of course, there are the (potentially) thorny issues of premature babies, when to fight for their life and when not... and the issue of infanticide, which has already been practiced by doctors in the netherlands on newly-born babies with disabilities.)

I'm not sure where i'm going with this :sorry: - if anywhere at all :mad: :D - just throwing some thoughts into the mix! :p
 
Very interesting thread, Mikawa!

I voted for "Other". I'm thinking about this from a non-scientific point of view, and I think life begins when you are liberated. Even though human beings have an enormous power of endurance and coping skills, one might find it difficult to call what he/she has "life" when they feel oppressed by the forces.
 
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