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2. Life is...

The mechanistic Cartesian view is that life is a complex algorithm of definable chemical reactions and physicochemical events.

The alternative view is that life is much more than an intricate clockwork mechanism. It is also the psyche, and the id and the ego and the super ego, and the  spirit.

Philosophy may debate the nature of life, but inevitably and inexorably life's experiences are etched and smudged and overlaid on the psyche and on the body. The body is the palimpsest of life.