As the plant is formed, maintained and dissolved by the exchange of matter and energy with its environment, at which point can we say that there is a sharp distinction between what is alive and what is not? Clearly, a molecule of carbon dioxide that crosses a cell boundary into a leaf does not suddenly 'come alive' nor does a molecule of oxygen suddenly 'die' when it is released to the atmosphere. Rather, life itself has to be regarded as belonging in some sense to a totality, including plant and environment.
David Bohm, Wholeness and the Implicate Order













