This concept was noted in my piece on self-learning computers, which can be found [here]. The original was written over two years ago but has since been lost as the website that published it has been taken down.

Spans of life;
Introduction

Writer’s objectives (For the essay).

This essay has been written to serve as a resource for learning/information on the ‘spans of life’. A selection of example spans are used throughout to aid in documenting what spans are, along with their workings by detailing how they are formed and what they then form themselves. Additional information is worked into the piece throughout to aid in learning, amongst other things. For most of the sections (with those used for introductions or formatting being an exception), the primary focus will be to inform on “spans of life” formed from what was covered in prior sections to progress through into what the span forms (as a collective) in the sections that follow. This will enable the reader to understand both the inner workings of spans and the bigger picture of what spans then are by having the piece flow from the bottom upwards.
It is written in essay format due to how easily this style can be formatted and organized with sections that allow for information to be taken in by the reader at a manageable pace, whilst still being a huge amount of detail when the piece is looked at as a whole. Included alongside the main text will be additional information which will assist in reaching the final goal.

The objective(s) will be completed with each section serving the purpose of either organising the text (e.g a diagram or recap), or introducing the span to be explained in the sections beginning with cells and working upwards. Though it should be noted that there are spans both lower than the cells and higher than the final span covered in this essay, the reader will have a firm grasp on the concept with the objective completed from the examples given to allow individuals to find more themselves.

The objective(s) will be completed when(upon reading the essay),the reader has a satisfactory level of understanding on the ‘spans of life’, as well as being aware from the spans used in the essay to then be able to identify and understand their own. This will allow further research on the topic, should they choose to do so.


 Spans of life (Essay topic)-
A span of life is traditionally defined as the duration of existence- from beginning to end- in either a material object or individual’s life. From either birth-death or creation-destruction the time spent between the two points is the lifespan of an object. During this time a ‘pattern of life’ can be observed in all living things; the stages of being (relative to the span’s total duration) baby, young, teen, middle-aged and then dead occurring in spans with the source of time spent being of the spans below. More on this later.

This ‘traditional’ way of thinking fails to acknowledge less conventional spans as legitimate life despite them A) Having a beginning and end and B) Following the same ‘pattern of life’ and going through the stages of life that have been set in the pattern set in (all) other spans. This is likely due to the wording of the definition: An amount of time spent from beginning to end in either a material object or an individual’s life.

We consider our own lives a span (as an individual) despite being a collection of the individual cells that are of the span below us. (Staying with this example for a while longer and keeping close to what is familiar to us) What we on this span form by being a collective of individuals is a life which lives as an individual one span above. This individual then forms, once again as a collective (coming together with the others on the span formed either from more humans, animals, or generations of either) the span above. This goes on and on indefinitely until what we, on our span, would not be able to find or understand. By going into detail on “the spans of life”, I hope to add to the traditional way of thinking in regards to what qualifies as one.

It may be helpful to the reader if the individuals are pictured as cells of the life below the span being focused in any given section. This’ll help visualise and process the idea as the spans become more obscure as we progress into the piece. For example, a human would now be a cell in the span above, or both human and an animal would be (different types of, but) a cell within another span of life above. It’s important to remember that each span of life becomes longer (time) with each step upwards, though. This will be covered in more detail later.

The above paragraph touches on a topic that’ll influence and expand on the core idea of the essay, once that point is reached. I mentioned types of cells, a variety with individuals of a span being categorized into different species or ‘types’ of the individuals which exist. I used humans and animals as an example in the above as it’s going to be covered the earliest in the essay. The most effective summary at this time is that the two types (or more) are a collective which form an above span, whilst also being a part of the other collectives they form. The categorized types of individuals within a span can be part of many of the spans above- with many different spans (or a ‘fork’ of spans) formed through the combinations made from the types of individuals.
This will be covered in the essay along with how ‘influencers’ of the races, species and generations affect the spans.


Essay main body I;
Spans of life