Hi all,
Thanks John - and if I may contribute a further possibility? What if it is the unpredictable variability which is the measurable thing we are seeking? 

Because some things cannot escape our observation of what they seem to be in any one reference frame (faster than they can change what they appear to be, anyway*), and some cannot escape our modification of them either (e.g. chemistry - a reliable set of substances that cannot not do what we compel them to do, as in any domesticated species or product of human ingenuity). 

What if the hallmark or signature of what we deem living, is a wild autonomy (randomness itself - the purposeful avoidance of its prediction, thus its survival)? Then, it would follow that such a nature would exhibit a struggle to variety (which it does) rather than to conform to a given set of qualities and behaviors (in order to be conserved).

We might draw on the curious prevalence of personality and worldview disorders (e.g schizophrenia) that seem to flourish during times of conflict-driven famine (the Dutch and Chinese famines, e.g.). And then, there is the even more curious possibility that the hormonal variability females suffer from, between menarchy and menopause, protects them from such tragedies of a lost self, relative to males who may not be beset by monthly tides, but are very much at risk for seasonal floods (many articles are available on that).

These non normative responses (physical or mental aberration) cocur about the same time as demands for invariant conformity to ideological perspectives (the apparent conquest of an unpredictable natural world by an insatiable mentality).

Perhaps, the proof of life is in our inability to describe what we are feeling when we come into contact with something living; because a thing you cannot describe well to others, is not a thing you would allow the extinction of, before you can share it with your fellow scientists - while being able to enjoy again the now familiar expression of awe on their faces.
--Lonny

* Except the "quantum level" which fickle creatures seem to enjoy changing faster than we can determine their physical states

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