> [Life is] the only system in the universe that uses information for its own purposes.
This seems like the start of something a little circular: What does the thing? Life does. How do you know it's Life? It does the thing.
> One of physicists’ great talents—starting with the laws of simple parts (such as atoms) and working up to a complex whole—cannot fully account for cells, animals, or people. Luckily, the field has another elemental skill that can help: a particular way of asking questions and building models to make predictions. Physicists have always been good at capturing the essential aspects of a system and casting those essentials in the language of mathematics.
Obligatory: https://xkcd.com/793/
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