system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: How can living organisms be alive if they are composed of non living atoms?
gpt
Life isn't really some intrinsic quality like that. Life is more of a series of processes. If those processes are occurring, then the material is alive. 

Think of a bundle of sticks. It can undergo the process of burning and be on fire, but it isn't necessarily on fire. The atoms themselves are the same either way, but only in some cases are they undergoing the process of burning.