Are you alive?

To determine if something is alive, I listen to the heart and lungs, feel the pulse, look at the chest to see if it rises, and poke it to see if it moves, or makes any sound. Looking at if something is alive I pose the queation; does it have the ability to change its environment." It's an interesting question, because if I'm going to look at for example; "are Chinese medicinals alive?" If I'm going to look at it like prof.Spears as; "does it respond to stimuli?, does it communicate?, with it's environment, and is it able to provide changes in it's environment,"and is it able to provide changes in it's environment, Chinese herbs, even after they are dried do all of these 3 things; they work together and profoundly change their environment (the human body), and change it so it can heal itself. Minerals are also part of the Chinese parmacopeia, and they are in my eyes alos alove by the same criteria.

Water ids a very important element for life. Dried herbs, when boiled together or taken as a draft have abetter ability to create changes in the human body, and when subjected to air for a long time, will become inable to create change an die; they will still be great fertilizer though, and this continues the cycle of life.