[vhawk01]

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I think the definitions of 'life' and 'non life' are mostly useless; consider that all matter is made fundamentally of energy... all things are composed of the same material there is nothing unique about 'life' as opposed to 'non life'. I'm not saying you can't make some arbitrary defintion if you want... it just doesn't matter.

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This is like saying "a car" is no different to "metal" and the definition is useless.

What do you have against defining "life" as a particular type of arrangement of matter (energy)

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I agree, and I don't think the definitions are useless. HOWEVER, and it is a big however, it is important to understand that categorizing things like life is a tricky thing, and it does NOT imply concrete boundaries. There simply is no point at which something goes from non-life to life. It doesn't exist. This is a tricky point, and one that is seized upon by all manner of idiots as if it is some great refutation. This is why some of us are hesitent whenever the subject of 'definitions of life' are discussed. Much the same as any 'definitions of species.' We just don't want to be agreeing with anything that will be used against us later by unimaginative people.

But I certainly understand why it is important to be able to define things to have meaningful discourse.