Did extraterrestrials create all life on earth?

Question

The Raelian philosophy (www.rael.org) says there is no God, nor evolution, but that we were created in the image of our creators, the Elohim, who created all life on earth. And that we will also create life in the future. Is it possible? Are we created by another humanity who has mastered DNA engineering?

Additional Details

56 minutes ago
OK, the philosophy also says that the Elohim were also created by another humanity and that this is a cycle of life. Is this not coming to fruition as we start to clone humans in our image?

Answer 1

I haven't decided if life on earth was created accidentaly when a passing spaceship emptied its garbage disposal in our solar system or if they flushed their septic tanks... or whether this is actually a penal colony that over developed. A bit like an interstellar Australia. A huge prison island that became a great place to live.

Now I just read the rest of your question and my answer doesn't match the line of your question, but that is still at the back of my mind when I see some of the goings on on our bluegreen jewel in space.

Answer 2

I believe that it is just science fiction. There are a number of problems with the Raelian and God hypotheses in that they don't explain who/what created the creator and ultimately they are completely hopeless at explaining the mass of scientific evidence available to us never mind having any useful predictive powers.

My favourite theory, since it is the best thought through in terms of evidence and implications that I have yet to read is the Cairns-Smith theory that the first self-replicating systems were mineral crystals. The idea is that crystal defects of growing clay crystals are a very simple information transfer system. Any crystal structure that allows faster growth in a given environment will tend to outgrow any competing crystal types. Any adoption of available chemicals that permits faster crystal replication will be favoured by a process of entirely natural selection. This is no more controversial than saying that, in a given environment, faster growing crystal structures will grow faster. A growing crystal system will use compounds from the solution diffusing through it rather like a living organism may extract nutrients from its environment in order to grow and reproduce. Equally, chemicals removed from the crystal environment will be washed away rather like the waste products from an organism.

The theory is that over a long period of time this basic sytem, that already has some parallels with life, starts to incorporate increasingly complex organic compounds as well as catalysing their reactions into other structures. It is well known that clay minerals can do this and there is and has been a lot of mud out there. The organic-inorganic structures that are most successful at growing and reproducing will grow to dominate over less effective structures. The theory is that this process of evolution eventually led to the first life, but the exact point at which this transition occurred is a grey area which depends upon how you define life.

Of course, there is quite a lot of inorganic chemistry involved in life (e.g. bone and teeth are largely hydroxyapatite, we need iron to form haemoglobin) which might be a residue from our inorganic origins?

This theory requires no creator(s), just some very common chemistry, a simple evolutionary principle and a lot of time. Of course, if this theory is correct then abiogenesis is probably quite common on planets with suitable conditions and therefore each isolated extraterrestrial creation of life is likely to have its own unique genetic system and it will not be identical to our DNA. In fact not all life on Earth uses DNA (retrovirsuses use only RNA).

Answer 3

I believe God is mathematical equation i.e. Pi. That's come of my scientific reading. Life is copious around universe, allowing the right planet + correct temperature at about 14 degrees Celsius + time, billions upon billions of yrs.

Answer 4

The base elements for life on Earth came from comets and star dust. What the singularity preceding the "Big Bang" was has yet to be proved. String theory, God, ET's. Who knows?

Answer 5

This begs the question as to the origins of the original ancestor of the Elohim/humans. "Turtles all the way down" is unsatisfactory.

Answer 6

There is absolutely no evidence for this conjecture. I do not think humanity is the product of " mastered " genetic engineering, but the product od evolution by natural selection.

Answer 7

The Raelians are renowned nutcases.

I mean, it'd be cool, but that doesn't make it any less improbable.

Answer 8

No, God creates all life. I know this is a subject of religious controversy, but like the respondant before me, that is the truth.

Answer 9

Many in the science fiction community refer to these potential "seeders of life" as The Preservers, and it is theorized that they have moved from planet to planet sowing the seeds of humanoid life.
Not necessarily ALL animal life, but mostly human or humanoid life forms.

Answer 10

yes they did. They may not have engineered every life form on earth but they started the ball rolling. Good 'ole evolution.