Life and death seem to be at opposite ends of the spectrum. In fact, death entails the absence of life. Yet without life, there would be no death, and without death, there would be no life as we know it. All living things eventually run their course and perish; some just beings live longer than others. Therefore, life and death are like two sides of the same coin because everything that lives is destined to die.
However, life and death differ in some overt and significant ways. For example, a dead ant cannot run or eat. It does not respond to any stimuli. Its nervous system is shut down and its body will soon start to decompose. A live ant, on the other hand, will run when provoked, will eat when hungry, and will respond to threatening stimuli. The live ant's body courses with electricity because it is alive. The differences between life and death are especially evident when they are applied to the plant and animal kingdoms.
Furthermore, people and other animals respond differently to life as they do toward death. Life is celebrated: a birth of a new creature generally brings joy and hope, whereas a death brings sorrow and pain. Animals also react to their dead in different ways than they react to live creatures. During the course of a living creature's life its body is animated; the person thinks, feels, and communicates with other people.
Our knowledge of life and death also differs: we can better explain what happens during the course of a human being's life than during death. The concept of death differs greatly across different cultures: some envision an eternal afterlife, whereas others imagine a string of new lives, or rebirths.
Although human beings know more about life than we do about death, scientists can not exactly quantify life. Life and death are similar in the sense that little is known of either. When a person dies, no one can say for certain what, besides the body, characterized that human being and made him or her different from other people. Therefore, in both life and in death, human beings are all the same.
