“Plato described a self-eating, circular being as the first living thing in the universe—an immortal, mythologically constructed beast.
The living being had no need of eyes when there was nothing remaining outside him to be seen; nor of ears when there was nothing to be heard; and there was no surrounding atmosphere to be breathed; nor would there have been any use of organs by the help of which he might receive his food or get rid of what he had already digested, since there was nothing which went from him or came into him: for there was nothing beside him. Of design he was created thus, his own waste providing his own food, and all that he did or suffered taking place in and by himself. For the Creator conceived that a being which was self-sufficient would be far more excellent than one which lacked anything; and, as he had no need to take anything or defend himself against any one, the Creator did not think it necessary to bestow upon him hands: nor had he any need of feet, nor of the whole apparatus of walking; but the movement suited to his spherical form was assigned to him, being of all the seven that which is most appropriate to mind and intelligence; and he was made to move in the same manner and on the same spot, within his own limits revolving in a circle. All the other six motions were taken away from him, and he was made not to partake of their deviations. And as this circular movement required no feet, the universe was created without legs and without feet.”
– from Plato’s TimaeusIf it wasn’t for The Second Law of Thermodynamics (Entropy) this would be a little more beautiful to me, personally I don’t believe the eventual universe, a static, homogeneous, vast field of radiation really counts as a living thing anymore, more of a remaining smudge of a long deceased corpse.
Makes me think of this scene from Lars Von Trier’s Antichrist:
Entropy is sometimes expressed (slightly ambiguously in my opinion) as the amount of chaos (disorder) in a system, meaning the dispersal of energy around the system after spontaneous changes (tending towards equilibrium). Nonetheless the fox rips himself apart as he eats and while there is circular movement the end is inexorable and ‘Chaos reigns’. Ya dig?