Matter and Life

The author argues that life is a major force shaping matter rather than a fragile exception to it, and that this macro-scale balance between living and non-living processes deserves philosophical attention. Half of the material variety on Earth is connected to life, according to the Quanta article on minerals, and the Nature article finds that global human-made mass exceeds all living biomass. The author also argues that the materials of the built environment, including concrete, asphalt, glass and metals, are shaped by life, and that this matters for climate action and computing.