**"And how come no one thought of this before? (Just kidding 
) An iron is an extension of human life and mind, and therefore an extension of living beings. Until it becomes independent, you can’t claim it has a life of its own. Interesting to ask — what exactly are you independent from? Logic, apparently. Soul? Please give a definition — what is a soul? And most importantly — why would God or the Universe even need a human soul?
What people consider to be life is honestly quite funny. Because those opinions change throughout history. Even funnier, people ‘consider’ things only within the limits of their narrow, fragile understanding.
Is it really so hard to realize that if the word ‘life’ can be applied to anything, then it’s obviously just a formality — a convention?
Here’s a definition that might clarify:
Life is a conditional period of changes, beyond which changes are no longer recognized by understanding.
This view fits naturally within the Russian language and mindset. In this sense, ‘life’ isn’t necessarily something biological or spiritual. It’s simply the span during which changes are noticed, interpreted, and given meaning. After that, changes may still happen, but we no longer call it ‘life’ — because it’s outside the scope of what we can grasp.
In English, this kind of definition can sound strange, since ‘life’ is usually reserved for biological or conscious entities. But in Russian, it’s quite normal to say that a kettle or a space station had a ‘life’ — meaning, a period of functioning, change, and purpose. When it stops, we say it ‘died.’ It’s not literal. It’s conceptual.
So when we say, ‘the orbital station ceased its life functions and fell into the ocean,’ we don’t mean it had a soul — we mean it stopped changing in a meaningful way. And from our perspective, its ‘life’ ended."**