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The Royal Institution •28 Sep 2026 35 here now

Do cells have goals? | with Melanie Challenger, Nick Lane & Philip Ball

Is purpose something our brains invented, or is it built into life itself?

Three thinkers take on one of science's oldest unresolved questions: what does it mean to be alive? Author Melanie Challenge

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A confused panel wanting to make Elan Vital seem respectable.
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I enjoyed the moderator but she should allow the experts talk more .
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I have a deep question that's been troubling me for days.

WHO BENEFITS FROM LIFE?

Is it the Organism/Individual, the Planets, the Universe or the Creator if any?

My thoughts
- The organism eventually dies maybe as food or later. Reproduction and persistence of life seems to be the priority of its creator.
- The planet can survive without life.
- The creator, if it exists, most likely designed life to persist against all odds.

I think Life benefits the creator, not the organism. We as organisms don't have a grand purpose aside from reproduction. We were created to be male and female and the intent is for reproduction.

Which leads me to another troubling question.

WHY DOES THE CREATOR WANT LIFE TO PERSIST? WHAT DOES IT GET OR BENEFITS FROM LIFE?
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The billion pound question is how life evolved from the fundamental particles in our universe? Maybe we will have that answer in 100+++ years?
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I believe during tremendous calamity, an observer (any form of matter, that actively resists change in its state due to the external conditions) with a slightly higher complexity than the carbon compounds arose, which was able to form chains and was able to replicate formed, and thus life came into being
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Not to disparage biologists, but seems like the wrong, or at least a much too narrow, group to be asking "Do cells have goals?"
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@zack_120 From YouTube ↗ 29 Sep 2026 1
Of course, in the broadest sense all moving things are machines.
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Superb.
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Fascinating topic at the boundary between science and metaphysics!
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Tune in next week for the next lecture in this series "Do cells have penalty boxes"

You sods. You changed the title.
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What if biological purposiveness is evolution turning reality itself into the filter? 🧬🌍 A living system persists only insofar as its internal dynamics stay synchronized with the causal structure of its environment. Drift too far from reality and selection removes you. Track it well enough and agency begins to emerge. Maybe purpose begins when matter becomes organized around staying in sync with what is actually there. ⚡🧠
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Very confused discussion suffering from a lack of definitions. No clarity on where Agency starts and simply "being alive" (i.e. Life) ends. Examples of complex beings thrown in with no context. Sure, there are layers on top of the barebones DNA definition, but they don't replace the base layer. Abuse of common words like agency, purpose was rife here. I'll buy Philip Ball's book, but Melanie did not impress me and I've seen a fair amount of Nick's work.
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Fascinating. Next topic: "Do thinkers overthink the value of their thinking?"
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@drmjs8390 From YouTube ↗ 29 Sep 2026 11
Life emerged gradually through chemistry: organic molecules formed, stable structures accumulated, etc. Biology seems distinct from chemistry partly because we—the products of this process—perceive it as purposeful self-organization. We are both the results and the observers. And we tend to have a specific perspective.
For example, we ignore the disorder from death and decomposition or we separate individual organisms despite the obvious chemical interconnectivity between them, partly because its close to our experience.

Human reason is also part of this physical process. Thoughts arise from neural activity shaped by instinct, experience, reward, pain, and personal or collective goals. Logic helps us pursue those goals, but it does not stand outside nature. The difficulty is that we use cognition to investigate cognition—like trying to see our own eyes without a mirror.
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Aristotle had a concept of epigenesis if he had a microscope he woud have theorized and discovered DNA probably around 1 AD
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Difficult questions, distinguished speakers.Greetings and thanks from Istanbul
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Mels making sense now... regarding Aristotle.
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I can barely make a cuppa after food poisoning, kudos for giving a panel! It's great to hear the current state of research but would love to have learnt more about the direction different labs and teams are heading in and what are the outstanding unanswered questions. Great panel
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Long time admirer of Nick Lane's work. I wish he was given more time to speak.
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Clear the Lane for Nick.