This way we could say the entire universe is just a big chemical reaction. It wouldn&#x27;t even be an incorrect view. It just wouldn&#x27;t be useful for anything.<p>This is the real value of models and concepts we use - not their grand philosophical sense, but how useful they are. We set up boundaries between creatures, define concepts like life and death because they allow us to understand and predict the world better. It&#x27;s usually more useful to treat two creatures as two creatures instead of one, but sometimes it&#x27;s the reverse - for instance, it&#x27;s often more useful to treat an entire colony of ants as a single being, individual ants becoming just cells &#x2F; organelles.