>>4
Localized reversal of entropy is a great "think about this" sort of argument. Disregarding that entropy is as inescapable as the laws of thermodynamics, Life could easily be interpreted as a temporary force of "reverse-entropy". A living system tends to make order out of disorder over time. However, the individual processes that create life all seem to bank on entropy.

Digestion is a process that comes to mind first. It is an absolute necessity, as the process of digestion provides energy for the living system to use in its many processes. However, the process of digestion itself takes an organized object (food) and disorganizes it into chemical energy and waste. The energy is then used, and the waste is broken down by microorganisms.

Respiration and circulation could be other examples, where the act of breathing first filters oxygen from the various gases, and then expels waste gas (CO2) from the body.

Entropy finally catches up to life sooner or later, with the degradation of the body's systems and its ability to renew those systems. Using the logic in the statement "life is characterized as a system that appears to reverse entropy over time," death and non-life could be interpreted as "a system characterized by by the lack of any forces that seem to counteract entropy."

The more I think about this, the more complex it seems to get. For instance, a broom can be positively characterized as non-life using the logic in the above paragraph. But in the hands of a person who is using it, a broom seems to to reverse entropy by organizing waste (dust and crap on the floor) into an organized system of "trash." Though this example might seem to muddy up the logic of the argument, I think it actually strengthens it. Dust and crap on the floor can only be considered trash by a living person. Dust and crap on ground outside is not trash, it is simply part of a broader disorganized system. Therefore it seems that just the act of living tends to create the illusion of order throughout the world.

Discordianist philosophy deals a lot with this sort of thing. The illusion of order and the need for people to think of the world as an organized system.