A new view of life.

The problem with defining "life" has bedeviled biology throughout its history, and still there is no agreed resolution. But one of the best ways to characterize living entities is not through any of the features or properties usually considered to define it, such as replication, metabolism, or evolution. Rather, living entities are generators of meaning.

In search of sentienceThe Sentient Cell: The Cellular Foundations of Consciousness Arthur S. Reber, Frantisek Baluska, William B. Miller Jr. Oxford University Press, 2024. 288 pp.

A provocative proposition paves the way for a long-overdue conversation about consciousness.