Astounding Origin of Life Stories

While riding out Folly Road near Stinking Lake (which is not as bad as it sounds), I commenced to cogitating about origin of life (OoL) research. Papa Darwin speculated that it may have happened in some "warm little pond" but was reluctant to say much on the subject.

Deep in thought, I was startled when Stevia Dolce spoke to me. She was with Lisa Myworries. They had made the trip from the Darwin Ranch up yonder at deception pass. Since they asked, I told them what I was thinking, which came from what I had been reading.

Algae pond near Hurley, NY, Unsplash / Cowboy Bob Sorensen

What passes for origin of life scientific research seems increasingly desperate and is more like fantasy storytelling than real science. Lots of maybe, possibly, perhaps, and other weasel words populate the stories. Volcanic eruptions (like this one in Iceland) pour out all sorts of gasses, some of them toxic, and lightning during those may have sparked life.

Or was it methane and soda in a lake in Canada? They haven't given up on life arriving from comets. Because a couple of Saturn's moons have chemicals that, if prodded just the right way along with water and nutrients, could contribute to the potential of life, therefore it happened here.

People believe this stuff because it comes from those they perceive as having authority, knowledge, and are impartial. They use evidence. When researchers foul up or cheat, it makes little news. Sort of like scientific paper retractions and stories now abandoned that were thought to support evolution; the damage is done in the minds of people.

Is it my imagination, or is rebellion against God increasing? Even though it is logical to conclude based on the evidence that life could not originate through naturalistic means, OoL researchers reject the conclusion that there must be a Creator. Indeed, Darwin's disciples working on the "tree of life" also reject reason with their "anything but God" attitudes.

Animism is perhaps the oldest non-theistic religion in the world. It used to be scorned in science, but has enjoyed a revival since the Bearded Buddha set an example. He envisioned molecules organizing themselves in a warm little pond. A narrative was set that sent the Origin-of-Lifers speeding toward Fantasyland, leaving Louis Pasteur shouting Wrong Way! in their dust.

For Origin-of-Lifers, the spark of life emerges in their imaginations. Unwilling to see the light outside, they make their own. Inside their skulls, their imaginations “shed light on evolution” causing images of the Bearded Buddha to emerge, cooking proteins and salts in warm little ponds. Life “may have” happened in this way; to them, that is sufficient motivation for their passionate faith.

To read it all and be astounded, see "Animists in Modern Dress: Origin-of-Lifers."