[donh]

For clarification, self assembly refers to any unguided assembly. It includes, for the sake of definition, self assembly which discards some of the material needed for the assembly process.

I suppose you can make a word mean whatever you want it to mean, but self-assembly ought, in my opinion, require some actual self-assembly.

I do not require the process to be instantaneous. But there must be a distinction of life and non life.

Scholastic nonsense. If the process is gradual and effectively continuous, the borderline is arbitrary and the definition is fuzzy.

So even if you cannot pinpoint a precise moment at which life begins, it still must be distinguished from the lifeless matter from which it originates.

Is a citrus cycle an example of non-living matter? Because I can make a case that that is what you fundamentally are, stripped of the largely gratuitous fancy factory accessories.

[unlearner]

"I suppose you can make a word mean whatever you want it to mean, but self-assembly ought, in my opinion, require some actual self-assembly."

It is the best I could come up with to reference a supposed self organizing mechanism (or group of mechanisms) within nature. My comparison is the self organization of periodic elements. Any better description you come up with is welcome.

"If the process is gradual and effectively continuous, the borderline is arbitrary and the definition is fuzzy."

I have dismissed any requirement to establish the borderline. What must be demonstrated is that the process, at some point contains only lifeless matter, and, at some point, produces life. A distinction must be made between what is alive and what is not. If you cannot pinpoint the precise moment of the transition, it does not matter. But the transition must exist. And it must be evident.

"Is a citrus cycle an example of non-living matter?"

Now, what do you think? I have already clarified why things like assimilation and reproduction do not qualify. You must start with an environment which is naturally occurring and without life. From this environment must come life. So, no, no metabolic processes qualify. Living organisms are made out of components which are not alive by themselves - water for example. So the components are not a measure for the criteria.