I and others think that we can usefully separate the inquiries into the nature of life as a biological/physical phenomenon from the study of mind. In my work (see Eco, Ego, Eros) I do actually suggest a close connection between these two inquiries, specifically that “life” is concerned with observable behavior, whether it’s macro-behavior or metabolic behavior, and “mind” is concerned with the associated internal/subjective aspects of such behavior. So observing and quantifying life is all about external aspects of reality whereas observing and quantifying mind is all about internal aspects of reality.