Is it alive? A definition for artists

Scientists work out if something is alive by asking a few basic questions:
Does it breathe, eat, grow, respond, have DNA, excrete and reproduce?

That's fine for a physical thing, but what about something less tangible,
like an idea or a concept? What about...
• the memory of a loved-one
• a work of art
• an organisation
• Christmas
• God
... how do I know if these things are alive?

Andrew Waywood, a deep thinker on education I met briefly many years ago, had a theory about this which I've never forgotten. His 'test' for if something living was this:

Does it speak,
or is it spoken about?

To me, this is a most profound way of working out if something is alive or not, and goes to the heart of what being alive is all about. A friend of mine suggested this is what “memes” are all about. Perhaps.

As a brief footnote to this, Campfire has now been 'alive' for roughly one year. A few weekends ago a few of us caught up to look at the way forward, and it's clear that there are some exciting new developments ahead. Stay tuned.