@BrightNoon,
I would like to pose a theory. This is something I have been working on for the better part of a decade. I have already published papers on this through MIT, UCLA and Cambridge so don't think too hard about stealing it

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The question was asked, what difines living from non-living. I say consciousness. The ability to experience. A mathmatical sequence of probable outcomes which define physical reality through interaction. now, I would like to state that I am not talking about regular consciouness. I am inclined to relate reality through three different conscious states:
Consciousness (view/control of partical reality)
Sub-consciousness (intermediary)
Quantum consciousness (view/control of quantum reality)
I would say that any conjoined matter which contains a quantum consciousness can be considered alive. This would include all organic matter. Now, my theory goes much deeper but you'll have to wait for my book to be released. We are looking at April of next year.