From the link: “If one star burned longer or brighter, that didn’t affect the probability distribution of the next star to form.” This is false, brighter stars die sooner and emit more stuff in space, including heavier elements, thus affecting both the probability of formation and the makeup of the future stars. You can even take this further, arguing that this amounts to reproduction (with synthesized elements instead of gametes), and that stars are a form of life (they self-replicate). This has been explored in science fiction, of course. In this way, stars also transform the interstellar space into more (or less) conducive to further star life. They also resist entropy, as long as there is some material to make more stars out of.
In fact, I dare you to argue that stars are not alive by your definition.
From the link: “If one star burned longer or brighter, that didn’t affect the probability distribution of the next star to form.” This is false, brighter stars die sooner and emit more stuff in space, including heavier elements, thus affecting both the probability of formation and the makeup of the future stars. You can even take this further, arguing that this amounts to reproduction (with synthesized elements instead of gametes), and that stars are a form of life (they self-replicate). This has been explored in science fiction, of course. In this way, stars also transform the interstellar space into more (or less) conducive to further star life. They also resist entropy, as long as there is some material to make more stars out of.
In fact, I dare you to argue that stars are not alive by your definition.
I’m thinking now of Lee Smolin’s hypothesis that universes reproduce via black holes, which is why our universe seems fine-tuned for their production.
Huh. Lacking any kind of background to evaluate that critically, but it’s a neat concept.
It’s in Wikipedia. His original detailed theory was disproved, but many still find the idea of interest.
There is a nice public polemic between Smolin and Susskind, with some accessible parts in it.