@Timjer #103335
Well, I would consider self-preservation without reproduction still as a special case of propagation. You are propagating your own existence, so to speak.
Or the other way round: “propagation” is a special case of “preservation”, where the thing being preserved is a population.
What I’m trying to say is: these two concepts can be combined into one, and I’d say: this combined concept is an important feature of being alive.
And yes, “sapient but not alive” deserves more rights than “alive, but not sapient”. This annoys me about the pro-lifers: yes, Karen, the fetus is alive, but so were the bacteria and inner mouth cells which you just swallowed and killed with stomach acid.