{"corpus":"steiner","locus":"GA 55/1906-11-08/p021","lang":"en","edition":"English","edition_basis":null,"is_original":false,"is_default_edition":true,"text":"The meaning and origin of life have always been subjects of much discussion, not least in our time. Modern natural science has not discovered many points of reference in this field. However, natural science has recently arrived at a conclusion that spiritual science has always maintained, namely, that organic and inorganic substances do not differ as far as the actual substances are concerned. The only difference lies in the fact that organic substances are more complex in their composition. Life can arise only where there are substances of varied and complex structure. As you may know, the basic substance where there is life is a white-of-egg-like substance which could well be called “living albumen.” It has one important characteristic that makes it differ from lifeless albumen; it begins to deteriorate the moment life has left it. That is why eggs, for example, do not stay fresh for long. The essential character of living substance is that it cannot remain a unity once life has departed.","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"title":"III. The Origin of Suffering","site_heading":null,"date":"1906-11-08","location":null,"word_count":165,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/en/ga/55/1906-11-08/p021","alignment_confidence":"medium","alignment_reason":"beads:length","two_voice_volume":false,"translation_credit":{"scope":"unit","status":"established","translator":"Rita Stebbing","identified_edition":"AP1987","book_title":"Supersensible Knowledge","publisher":"Anthroposophic Press","publisher_inferred":true,"match_score":1.0,"source_url":"https://www.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA055/English/AP1987/19061108p02.html","evidence":"lecture_page_line","publisher_note":"The publisher is inferred from the edition code in this lecture's source URL, not stated by the source page. The translator IS verified for this lecture: its own source names the translator (evidence: the lecture's page, rsarchive's lecture list, or the cover of the book it was published in), and that page's text was matched against this unit (see match_score and source_url). Cite the translator with confidence; attribute the publisher only as probable."},"edition_coverage":{"de":["original"],"en":["English"]},"available_versions":[{"lang":"de","edition":"original","edition_basis":null,"is_original":true,"is_default_edition":true,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/55/1906-11-08/p021"},{"lang":"en","edition":"English","edition_basis":null,"is_original":false,"is_default_edition":true,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/en/ga/55/1906-11-08/p021","paragraph_aligned":true}],"record":{"record_type":"unknown","scope":"volume","note":"How this text was taken down (shorthand transcript, listeners' notes or manuscript) is not on record here. Unknown is not an assurance of a stenogram: check the edition's own notes before resting an argument on one word.","evidence":null,"evidence_translation":null,"evidence_source":null},"other_renderings":{"loci":[{"locus":"GA 55/1906-11-08_02","ga":"55","lecture":"1906-11-08_02","kind":"renderings","relation":"another translation or transcription of the same lecture"}],"note":"The same lecture is also served at the loci listed, each with how it relates to this one. They are ONE witness, not independent attestations: quote the rendering you fetched, and do not cite another as corroborating it. Wording differs between translations, so a quotation found in one need not occur in the other."},"german_anchor":{"de_prefix":"1906-11-08","de_passages":[{"locus":"GA 55/1906-11-08/p021","url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/55/1906-11-08/p021"}],"bead_confidence":"medium","pairing_state":"proposed","verified":false,"length_check":{"de_words":419,"en_words":297,"ratio":0.71,"partial":false},"correspondence":"established","note":"English passage numbering is edition-relative, so the same number need not name the same paragraph in the German. The German original passage(s) above are the edition-invariant anchor — fetch them (lang='de') to verify wording before quoting across editions."},"paired_german":{"status":"paired","german":[{"locus":"GA 55/1906-11-08/p021","passage_number":21,"text":"Seit jeher und auch besonders in unserer Zeit hat man viel darüber nachgedacht, was das Leben eigentlich bedeutet, was der Ursprung und der Sinn des Lebens sei. Wenige Anhaltspunkte hat die heutige Naturwissenschaft über die Bedeutung des Lebens und über sein Wesen erkunden können. Aber eines hat sich diese neue Naturwissenschaft schon seit längerer Zeit zu eigen gemacht, was auch die Geistesforschung immer wieder als ihre Überzeugung und ihre Erkenntnis ausgesprochen hat, nämlich: Leben innerhalb der physischen Welt unterscheidet sich stofflich von dem sogenannten Nichtleben, dem Leblosen, im Grunde nur durch die Mannigfaltigkeit und Kompliziertheit der Gestaltung. Nur da kann das Leben wohnen, wo eine viel kompliziertere Gestaltung der Stoffe eintritt, als sie im Gebiete des Leblosen vorhanden ist. Sie wissen vielleicht, daß das Leben zu seiner Grundsubstanz etwas hat, was man als eiweißartige Substanz bezeichnen könnte, für die der Ausdruck «lebendiges Eiweiß» nicht unangebracht wäre. Dieses lebendige Eiweiß unterscheidet sich vom toten leblosen Eiweiß ganz beträchtlich durch eine Eigenschaft. Lebendiges Eiweiß zerfällt nämlich sogleich, wenn es vom Leben verlassen ist. Totes Eiweiß, zum Beispiel das vom toten Hühnerei, können Sie nicht längere Zeit in dem Zustande erhalten, in dem es ist. Das ist überhaupt die Eigenart der lebendigen Substanz, daß in dem Augenblick, wo das Leben von ihr gewichen ist, sie ihre Teile nicht mehr zusammenhalten kann. Wenn wir uns auch heute nicht weiter auf das Wesen des Lebens einlassen können, so kann uns doch schon eine Erscheinung hinweisen auf etwas, was tief mit dem Leben zusammenhängt und es charakterisiert. Und was ist nun dieses Charakteristische? Es ist eben diese Eigenschaft der lebendigen Substanz, daß sie zerfällt, wenn das Leben aus ihr gewichen ist. Denken Sie sich eine Substanz vom Leben entblößt: sie zerfällt; denken Sie sich eine stoffliche Mannigfaltigkeit, die nicht von Leben durchdrungen ist: sie hat die Eigenschaft, zu zerfallen. Was tut nun das Leben? Es stellt sich immer und immer wieder dem Zerfall entgegen; also das Leben erhält. Das ist das Verjüngende des Lebens, daß es sich dem, was in seiner Materie vorgehen würde, immer wieder widersetzt. Leben in der Substanz heißt: Widerstand gegen den Zerfall. Vergleichen Sie den äußeren Vorgang des Todes mit dem Leben, und es wird Ihnen klar sein, daß das Leben alles das nicht zeigt, was den Vorgang des Todes, das In-sich-selbstZerfallen, charakterisiert, sondern daß es vielmehr die Substanz immer wieder vor dem Zerfall errettet, sich ihrem Zerfall entgegenstellt. So ist das Leben, indem es die in sich selbst zerfallende Substanz wieder erneuert, die Grundlage des physischen Daseins und des Bewußtseins.","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"word_count":419,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/55/1906-11-08/p021"}],"english":["GA 55/1906-11-08/p021","GA 55/1906-11-08/p022"],"method":"length","confidence":"medium","correspondence":"established","length_check":{"de_words":419,"en_words":297,"ratio":0.71,"partial":false},"pairing_state":"proposed","verified":false},"witness_completeness":{"ratio":0.81,"band":"watch","note":"This witness is somewhat shorter than the original. Minor omissions or condensation are possible.","word_count":5622,"original_word_count":6967,"may_be_abridged":false},"witness_quality":{"translator":{"scope":"unit","status":"recorded","translator":"Rita Stebbing","identified_edition":"AP1987","book_title":"Supersensible Knowledge","publisher":"Anthroposophic Press","publisher_inferred":true,"match_score":1.0,"source_url":"https://www.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA055/English/AP1987/19061108p02.html","evidence":"lecture_page_line","publisher_note":"The publisher is inferred from the edition code in this lecture's source URL, not stated by the source page. The translator IS verified for this lecture: its own source names the translator (evidence: the lecture's page, rsarchive's lecture list, or the cover of the book it was published in), and that page's text was matched against this unit (see match_score and source_url). Cite the translator with confidence; attribute the publisher only as probable."},"entity_parity":{"status":"ok","checked_against":["GA 55/1906-11-08/p021"],"missing_from_translation":[],"present_only_in_translation":[],"bead_confidence":"medium","note":"Every load-bearing name in the German counterpart appears in this English passage. That is a check on NAMES only: a translation can keep every name and still reverse who acts on whom, change a number, or soften a claim. Read the German for anything you intend to rest an argument on."},"note":"quote_safe certifies the bytes of this text. This block is about the translation as a WITNESS: who made it, and whether it carries the same names as the original. See witness_completeness for how much of the original this witness holds."}}