Alive Or Not
Alive or Not
[A chart consisting of vertical line, with 14 dots and a horizontal dashed dividing line drawn across the list a bit below the middle. Each dot has a label to the right of the line with a line pointing to the dot they belong to. Above and below the dividing line is a label with a broad arrow pointing up above and down below.] Up arrow: Alive Down arrow: Not alive
[Dot labels from top to bottom above the dashed line:] Animals (Normal) Animals (Weird ones like jellyfish and coral) Fungi Plants Slime molds Bacteria Archea Viruses
[Dot labels from top to bottom below the dashed line:] Prions Fire Clouds Fossils Rocks shaped like faces Regular rocks

There is no universally-accepted definition of " life "; all definitions thus far proposed have either excluded some things commonly understood to be alive or included some things commonly understood to not be alive. Take reproduction, a trait commonly assumed to be essential and unique to life; by this definition, anything which cannot reproduce (including mules , worker bees , and postmenopausal women) would be considered nonliving, while anything which can duplicate itself (including computer viruses , advanced 3D printers , and fire —see below) would be considered alive.
Many more elaborate definitions of life have been attempted over the decades.  Some common additional factors include:
Despite all of this, the only definite definition of "life" is "something everyone agrees is alive". This comic attempts to rank several types of things by how likely people are to perceive them as "alive". As there is a debate as to whether viruses are alive or not, Randall has taken a side, and may spark debate, by putting viruses above the alive line.
Given that this comic was released during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, viruses are for sure on Randall's mind, given that most comics more than a month before this one was about COVID-19. And this comic is most likely inspired by this, and the previous comic 2306: Common Cold , where the cold viruses are definitely alive, and afraid.
Interestingly, the vertical line linking the categories extends beyond both the most-alive and least-alive things, making one wonder what Randall might think is more alive than "normal animals" or less alive than "regular rocks". In the latter direction an explanation might be that shortly before this comic the scientific press wrote about heat-resistant bacteria that live in the desert and slowly eat regular rocks generating their own water in this process making even the sand in the desert partially alive.
[A chart consisting of vertical line, with 14 dots and a horizontal dashed dividing line drawn across the list a bit below the middle. Each dot has a label to the right of the line with a line pointing to the dot they belong to. Above and below the dividing line is a label with a broad arrow pointing up above and down below.] Up arrow: Alive Down arrow: Not alive
[Dot labels from top to bottom above the dashed line:] Animals (Normal) Animals (Weird ones like jellyfish and coral) Fungi Plants Slime molds Bacteria Archea Viruses
[Dot labels from top to bottom below the dashed line:] Prions Fire Clouds Fossils Rocks shaped like faces Regular rocks
