Definition of Life: Beyond Organic Matter

[nymph]

I really don't know if this is the right forum to ask this but let me try..

Why everybody tends to think of life as something organic in composition ? For example, NASA sends the Mars rovers in search of water which is essential for an organic life form.

If the simple definition for a life form is..
1)Can Grow
2)Will Respond to stimuli
3)Can Reproduce

then we don't neccesarily have to equate life to a organism made of carbon and hydrogen. Why don't we think of a possibility of a life form that exist in some distant part of our galaxy that isn't made of organic material.

It could be even matterless being entirely a form of energy that shows the characteristics of life and doesn't have to be visible.

I know this idea is bizarre...but I tend to think why not?

 

[Phobos]

Walk before you run. Search for life forms you recognize before searching for those you don't.

Play the odds. We know our kind of life is a possibility. We don't know if other kinds are.

But, otherwise, yes, I think everyone agrees that it's good to keep our minds open to other possibilities.