2006-07-21 14:35:50 · 8 answers · asked by TommyTrouble 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Astronomical observations over the past few years have included immense clouds of organic chemicals (the 'building blocks of life') 10s of thousands of light years in size, in the vicinity of 'stellar nurseries'. Current speculation includes the idea that simple life forms might have actually originated in space, given that organic chemicals, water and energy are abundant.
It may be that "When and how did life originate on earth?" is not the right question to be asking. It could be that 'life' rained down on earth during the entire time that it was being formed. It could be that the right question is "When did conditions on earth stabilize to the point where life was able to take hold?"
The appeal to god when considering these questions is a logical fallacy (a flaw in thinking) known as the "Argument From Incredulity"... which is a sub-category of the "Argument ad Ignorantiam" (Argument From Ignorance). It goes something like this: "I can't conceive of how this might have come to be; therefore, God did it."
That does not represent a limitation of nature... it represents a limitation of knowledge or intellect. Additionally, it is intellectually dishonest... it does not ACKNOWLEDGE the the limitation of knowledge or intellect... it appeals a fanciful, imaginary, supernatural entity to create the ILLUSION that the cognitive dissonance has been resolved.
2006-07-21 16:36:57 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Regardless of whether we keep god in the equation or not, we're still left with the mystery of something always existing. If we keep god in the equation, then we can say that god started everything and made the processes, etc. that formed life. If we take god out of the equation, we're still left with the fact that something always existed -- some process, potential, whatever. So ... if the process or potential for this universe and its life always existed, then what is that? That's god -- not the symbolic deities that we take literally and conceive of as being a big daddy that puts his finger into some primordial muck and starts life. And that god is the foundation of everything and is the Mystery. So ... with abiogenesis, it doesn't remove the mystery -- there's a process that gave rise to what we humans call 'non-living matter' (our classification of what is living and not is arrogant) and this process results in some other processes that then yield forms of what we call 'life' from this 'non-living' matter. The point is that if we take god out, the spontaneous production of 'life' from 'non-living matter' still doesn't solve the mystery of existence -- where did this process come from, where did the process that created the universe come from, why did it always exist, what is it, is it formless, is it energy, how the heck does something just always exist?
2006-07-21 14:45:15 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Every action must have a resultant cause. No matter how you approach this question, if you go back far enought, there has to be an "uncaused caused" and that can only be God. So, even if you are an atheist or someone who only acknowledges what is in the natural world, that fact must be addressed.
2006-07-21 14:40:40 · answer #3 · answered by blowry007 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The "logic" that appears in blowry's answer is one of religion's great deceptions.
If "every effect has a cause" then "there must be an uncaused cause".
This statement says, in effect, if you believe something to be true, then you must believe it to be false. A true statement would be that if "there is an uncaused cause", then "not every effect has a cause". This invalidates the original assertion.
If "there is an uncaused cause" then "it must be god".
This statement is pure conjecture.
2006-07-21 14:46:39 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are plenty of hypothoses, but there is no proof. Either for abiogenesis or for god.
2006-07-21 14:49:36 · answer #5 · answered by OMG, I ♥ PONIES!!1 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Someone just watched Davinci Code!
Yes and spiders can be explained by watching Spiderman!
2006-07-21 14:39:27 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Only if earth had an ammonia based atmosphere.Cells and bacteria use different mechanisms so there would have to be to parallel events.The odds are astronomical.
2006-07-21 15:24:09 · answer #7 · answered by ? 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
short answer is yes-explained but not fully proven yet-keep the peace old hippie here
2006-07-21 14:40:30 · answer #8 · answered by bergice 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋