
A "secret of life" discussion by Alan Watts, wherein he hinges the topic around the nature of "spontaneity"; which, at some points, to note, seems to similar to Robert Pirsig's 1991 discussions on the perceptual confusion surrounding the terms: struggle and survive in a chemical sense.

A "secret of life" discussion by Alan Watts, wherein he hinges the topic around the nature of "spontaneity"; which, at some points, to note, seems to similar to Robert Pirsig's 1991 discussions on the perceptual confusion surrounding the terms: struggle and survive in a chemical sense.

In terminology, secret of life is a phrase used by Francis Crick (1953) who made a “half-joking reference” about DNA, in that if they discovered the atomic structure of DNA they would find the "secret of life"; a term which latter became popularized by his associate James Watson.

Crick, to note, in 1966, said "we should abandon the word alive" (see: defunct theory of life), in that some thing "alive" is does not exist (see: life does not exist) as chemistry and physics sees things.

Etymology
The phrase “secret of life”, supposedly, is attributed Francis Crick who on 18 Apr 1953 is said to have stepped into the Eagle Pub in Cambridge England and declared in triumph to have “discovered the secret of life” together with James Watson. [1]

Quotes
The following are related quotes:

“The results of particle physics are in no sense more fundamental then what Alan Turing did in founding the computer science, or what Francis Crick and James Watson did in discovering the secret of life.”
— Philip Anderson (1986), commentary on proposal to build a Super Collider [2]

“The DNA revolution led a generation of biologists to believe that the secret of life lay entirely in the structure and function of DNA. This faith is misplaced and the reductionist programme must be supplemented with a new conceptual framework.”
— Harry Rubin (1988), “Molecular Biology Running into a Cul-de-sac?” [3]

See also
● Secret principle

References
1. (a) Watson, James D. (2003). DNA: the Secret of Life (introduction: Andrew Berry). Alfred A. Knopf.
(b) Bignami, Giovanni F. (2014). Imminent Science: What Remains to be Discovered (pg. 10). Springer.
2. (a) Anderson, Philip. (1986). “Letter”, New York Times, Jun 8.
(b) Weinberg, Steven. (1992). Weinberg, Steven. (1992). Dreams of a Final Theory: the Scientist’s Search for the Ultimate Laws of Nature (pg. 55). Random House.
3. (a) Rubin, Harry. (1988). “Molecular Biology Running into a Cul-de-sac?”, Nature, 335:121.
(b) Weinberg, Steven. (1992). Weinberg, Steven. (1992). Dreams of a Final Theory: the Scientist’s Search for the Ultimate Laws of Nature (pg. 56). Random House.