The concept of a “life force” fascinates me. What is it that enlivens a creature? What changes in that moment between life and death? I vividly remember the first time I had to certify that someone had died. That person was an old man who had died peacefully in a geriatric ward in the middle of the night. As a young doctor this was a diagnosis I absolutely wanted to get right. I took my time and completely convinced myself that this old man had indeed passed away. Perhaps because I spent so long over this, I found myself thinking long and hard about that borderline between living and dying. What changes in a moment? As I sat next to this man’s lifeless body, what had gone? How exactly do we die? Of course, as a doctor I’d learned about the stopping of the heart, about the ceasing of the lungs and about “brain death”, but the closer I looked the harder it seemed to me to discern the exact moment of death. Life and death seem two such absolute states. There isn’t really a transitional zone that is neither life nor death. Even “half-dead” is still life! All these years later I’m no closer to understanding exactly how to pin down the moment of death or to understand what disappears or dissipates at the end of life.
The “life force” (or the “vital force”) is an old concept to try and capture what it is that enlivens us, what it is that is present when we are alive, but gone when we are dead. In fact, for a long time the life force was believed to be an entity, but when the anatomists dissected human bodies and couldn’t find any such entity, the concept lost a lot of ground. Science, it seemed, had shown that no such entity existed and materialistic understandings of the human being became much more accepted than “vitalist” one.
It’s fascinating, therefore, to see the re-emergence of the life force in a totally new guise. Modern systems theory, and complexity science, both show that complex systems have certain characteristics which are remarkably like the old “life force”.
- Self-organisation. Complex systems (specifically, complex adaptive systems) have the ability to self-organise. They are made of many, many components, connections and systems, which co-ordinate with each other to maintain overall defence, to adapt and maintain homeostasis of the inner environment, and to be self-repairing.
- Autopoiesis. Living systems have the unique characteristic of “self-making capacity”. This is a term coined by Maturana and Varela. Autopoietic organisms can make and maintain themselves.
- Emergence. This is a fairly new term which captures that characteristic of being able to produce new, previously unwitnessed, behaviours.
- Consciousness. Finally, let me add the phenomenon of consciousness. Not every living creature has consciousness. However, consciousness is a phenomenon which, like the old “life force”, is actually not an entity but a behaviour, or an experience. OK, I know, this is way too simplistic a description of consciousness and clearly it isn’t the same as the life force (think of persistent vegetative states for example). But it strikes me that the life force is a similar kind of phenomenon.
I am repeatedly impressed with the strength of the life force in the patients I see. It seems to me that it’s the basis of their ability to cope, to grow, and to shine. It’s the basis of the fight to overcome disease and to say to Death, “not yet”. Without it, there is, indeed no life at all.
I’m reading Antoine Sainte-Exupery’s “Citadelle” at the moment. Here’s the line I read today which set me off thinking about this post –
The tree is more than first a seed, then a stem, then a living trunk, and then a dead timber. The tree is a slow, enduring force straining to win the sky.
That captures it for me. Aren’t we all the slow, enduring force of life straining to win the sky? The life force flows through us, maintains us, repairs us, and drives our growth. Amazing, isn’t it?
Heroes Not Zombies 
What a brilliant line, and post to go with it.
“The tree is a slow, enduring force straining to win the sky.”
Thanks.
Joanna
For me, life force = soul. The soul does not just disappear after death. It is a form of energy, energy does not just disappear. Where it goes depends on your own personal beliefs, and I leave that up to each individual who reads this. But, it doesn’t disappate, this I know.
Hey, cool article. We where always wondering about… uh… life force.
ANWAYS… Hi.
~The Tubbo Twins
P.S. Notice The Curvy Thing At The End Of Our Name (~)? Isn’t that a nice touch?
Yes, it is definitely a wonderful concept. The Life Force is, indeed, our soul.
Science is an amazing tool which has given an amazing number of amazing answers ever since human beings started to question; but sooner or later beings will realize that it is just a limited tool. Like every tool, it has its own scope. And this is something that string theorists (who tried to carry forward Einstein’s dream of unifying micro and macro physics with one theory of everything) are realizing today: that everything cannot be experimentally proved by us, because “us” is a consequential aspect of that statement, taking into account our current frame of reference and disposition.
Very few people think of themselves as their body, mind and soul; and still fewer understand how all realities are being created by themselves, through their creative prowess which utilizes three levels of consciousness: the conscious, the subconscious, and the superconscious. This is where a being’s spiritual “awareness” comes into the picture, because awareness allows you to be the cause of things consciously, rather than be the effect of the things that we have unconsciously caused. One trivial example would be the aging of our body, or the continuous growth of our hair and nails; and I say this as a “trivial” example because just like we don’t consciously seem to work at these things, so do we end up taking everything in life with a sense of unanswerable mystery even though at some level of our own consciousness, we have caused everything to occur.
Indeed, there is no death. Simply a transition from one form to another, that too by our own levels of varying consciousnesses. And science realizes this, too, but only at the physical level: that all energy can simply change from one form to another. Indeed, we are energy. That is our essence. The life force. the soul. Terminologies are simply ways of trying to get everyone on our side, as a subconscious attempt to convince ourselves. And so viewpoints differ and religions differ, asking people to do things this way or that, or else…
But the life force simply watches this illusion and drinks joy from the experience, even though many experiences might be contrary in appearances!
Oh, Sorry for this blog-post type comment on your post. You inspired me to write, though! 🙂 Thanks for the article…
Oh, but more related to your post, there are a couple of points that I would like to add on. Of course, you are at liberty to disagree / delete these comments; my purpose is just to show another possible take on the issue(one which I quite convincingly know of), and not to say this is the best way or the only way of looking at it.
I can see where the statement “Not every living creature has consciousness.” can come from. I once thought of it the same way. And it is not too far from precision, too; but I feel a more precise statement would be that not every living creature (in fact, every entity is what I would say) has the same level or type of consciousness. This is a very deep issue, and hence merely stating it is an invitation to misunderstandings, misinterpretations and volatile or invidious reactions, but I don’t think I can explain/type out the entire depth of that simple statement here.
Life is merely a ceaseless process of evolution. And yes, though we may call rocks and tables as non living entities, or we may feel that trees don’t have consciousnesses, logic would at least make us realize that until we are in the same frame of reference or disposition as the entity that we are studying, we cannot possibly make an affirmative statement of such sorts. And yet, we know that a rock which is still from the outside, is bursting with energy with subatomic particles ceaselessly moving about. And yet, we know of the processes that the trees partake in to help sustain so many other “life” forms. And so definitely there are “differences”, but there are no “divisions”.
Again, I apologize if these comments are intrusive. 🙂
It IS amazing.
I’ve been thinking a lot about energy, particularly as it relates to what we are composed of. I subscribe to a belief that the energy that makes us what we are – the body we move about in, as well as the thoughts and behaviors which make us unique in the world – IS an entity (and, if I’m reading correctly, that’s what both Kat and Vaniz are saying, too). We are light and heat and vibration, and it’s the will of that energy that composes and maintains our bodies and our place here in this plane.
Some people have a more vibrant energy than others. Some nurture their energy more carefully. What’s important, though, is that we get to CHOOSE how we spend this energy here, and how we use it to interact with others.
Sorry; got a little airy-faerie on you there, Doc. Remember, I just got through with 200 hours of yoga training….
I have learned a valuable lesson recently in “life force”. Maybe you too will find it of interest.
My mother was diagnosed 6 weeks ago with end stage A Plastic Anemia. Bone marrow in her body less than 22%. Blood count 2,000. WBC and RBC practically non existent. I took her out of the hospital with a very heavy heart indeed. Her body absolutely covered in Petechea and bruising.
They wouldn’t even let her leave the hospital without 1 last bag of platelets. They were afraid of spontaneous bleed out. You know it gets ugly down at 2,000.
Anyway, she’s still here. In fact, she looks amazing! Petcechea and bruising gone. She’s able to shower and function ok. The only way you can tell at all that she is ill is the fact that she is having a harder time breathing with physical exertion. Her body temp is 94 F now each day regularly, she’s suffering from aggitation and insomnia. Other than that….
Everyone including the doctors are amazed. The doctor basically gave me two days from the time I took her out of the hospital for her to live….. its been six weeks now. Spirit, lifeforce, I don’t know. All I do know is it ain’t over until its OVER.
Joanna, you are welcome. I love that sentence too. It’s a wonderful image. I’m enjoying Sainte-Exupery’s book, but the English translation feels pretty clunky to me. However, the translator hits it right on the button often enough for me not to dislike it. (I’ll need to read the original French version next time I go to Aix)
KatK, a lot of people equate the life force with the soul. I don’t see it that way myself but I certainly don’t object to those who do. It’s the CONCEPT of the life force which grips me, and that’s a concept which can be understood from a number of perspectives – spiritual or scientific.
Thanks for saying hi, the Tubbo Twins (and sorry, I couldn’t find that nice little curvy thing on my keyboard!)
Vaniz, thankyou for BOTH of your comments. Please, I don’t mind in the slightest about the length of your comments. They are thoughtful and I’m only pleased to have the chance to read them. I’m glad my post inspired you to think and write what you did.
You are very right about science being a tool. You’ll see elsewhere on this blog that I really rate the work of the philosopher Deleuze. He says that science is a way of thinking – a way of thinking about function. That seems spot on to me. He goes on to say that art and philosophy are other ways of thinking and that seems very true to me too.
I totally agree with the points you make in your second comment, Vaniz. I recently read Owen Flanagan’s “Really Hard Problem” (you’ll find posts about it here in my blog) and he referred to the Abhidharma a lot. I’ve just got myself a copy, plus a guide he also recommended and I see EXACTLY what you are referring to about the complexity of consciousness.
Ah yes, life is a process of continual evolution and yes, differences are much, much more interesting than these artificial “divisions” we create!
Thank you, Vaniz, for these comments. And so beautifully written too
mrschili, don’t apologise, what you say isn’t remotely airy-fairy to me. The whole idea of energy and how it relates to physical matter is fascinating, isn’t it? And your point about CHOOSING is a very, very important one (which passes most people by – this is the heart of this blog – choosing to be the hero of your own story rather than the drifting zombie in other peoples’)
Oh, Amber, thank you for sharing this deeply moving and personal story. People amaze me every day of life. It’s why I never subscribe to any interaction with a patient which doesn’t include hope. The life force is truly amazing and individuals just don’t conform to the stereotypes created out of statistical averages. None of us know what lies ahead, do we? Doesn’t matter whether we are well, or unwell. I hope your mother finds some settling of her agitation and an improvement in her sleep soon.
Well, then there is the concept of Chi as well, but it didn’t seem like that is what you were talking about. I think of Chi more as the Spirit’s energy. The force of intent, of thought, of your core self’s focus at the moment. Chi is more what emanates from your Spirit, it is semi-renewable, it is what can be out of whack when you are ill, spiritually or physically, it can function as a sort of gyroscope as well. Does that make sense?
yes it does, KatK. I’m not really an expert in the Chinese model but as I understand it, they conceive of Chi as something different from Spirit. You’re right
Different, but related/connected. Chi is a sort of…field? An energy field emanting from our Spirit, affected by our health, our thoughts, our intent, and it can be an extension of the focus of our intent in action as well. I suppose a way to diagram it would be Chi, then either body, then Spirit. (But I tend to percieve Spirits as extending outside a person’s body, at least at times.)
Visualize it as sort of an outline, like those vibrant art projects children do in school with crayons, where you draw your name in black, (usually on white paper) then choose several colors and an order for the colors, then color in an outline around your name, alternating colors until the page is filled with expanding outlines in varying colors of the name? Well, make it three colors/layers, and have them be Chi, Spirit, then Body. (But have the Spirit layer also intermingle/join with the Body layer, just as it does with the Chi layer. So, blurred boundaries between the three)
Also, I agree that we aren’t the only beings with souls. Some souls are more complex than others, true. I’ve seen cats and dogs with as noble a soul as any human though.
[…] I mean look at that little twig! It’s grown a leaf! A perfect, bright green, little leaf! Isn’t that amazing? I wondered a wee while ago about how difficult it was to know whether a seed was dead or alive, but I didn’t wonder about these (apparently discarded) twigs. They were dead as far as I knew. But add a little water, and, hey presto! Life magically emerges! […]