The Origin of Life

One of the still unsolved mysteries of nature is how did life get started. Evolution explains how life changes from simple forms to more complex animals, but the mechanism of how life got started is still unknown. My theory is that new life is continuously forming in the oceans, but it’s not possible to tell because it’s similar to the existing life. My theory is based on new findings that there exists up to millions of microorganisms per milliliter in ocean water. And there are equal numbers of viruses present. The microorganisms are called Pico plankton having cells ranging from 0.2 to 2.0 microns in diameter. These microorganisms can reproduce, but, I theorize that the smallest can also self assemble from RNA and viruses. Since the types of these plankton are not well known, it’s not possible to tell newly formed from older established forms.
Another consideration is that I believe there is only one basic type of life possible and it is based on organic chemistry in the form of RNA and DNA. Thus, newly formed life would be the same as older established forms so it’s not possible to tell the difference.
These simple life forms existed in the oceans for billions of years till finally genes formed that allowed the formation of more complex life forms. And the rest is the history of Evolution.

Rare Earth

I was thinking how people can look at the uniqueness of the Earth for life and see two different things. Creationists see fine tuning of the Universe and Earth as evidence for an intelligent designer while I see evidence for lack of design and evolution out of chaos. How could an intelligent designer create billions of galaxies with billions of stars and have only one planet be suitable for human life? Humans occupy such a small fraction of space and time that any designer would be very inefficient and not intelligent.
To further emphasize this difference, I thought of a way that the existence of an intelligent designer could be tested. If the Universe was created by an intelligent designer for the purpose of making intelligent beings, then because our form of life must be so rare, somewhere there must be a more common form. The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) has failed to find anything human like so perhaps they are looking in the wrong places. I have read that the more common red dwarf stars might be more favorable than our sun for evolution of life on accompanying planets because of less critical temperature range and less uv radiation. SETI is beginning to look at them. So if a more common abode for life is found, then we might assume the Universe was designed for that purpose. Otherwise, I am afraid it's chaos all the way up.

Life After Death

Life After Death
It’s interesting to contemplate that no one not even the Pope who recently died will ever know that there is no life after death. If consciousness disappears on death which seems certain, then how would anyone know?
The realm of the afterlife has been exploited by religions to gain power. They promise everlasting happiness to those who follow their precepts and threaten everlasting torment to those who rebel against them. But, they really don’t know. Scriptures reputedly God’s word were written by religious men to gain power and prestige . There is no proof they are true.
How can our consciousness survive death when it can’t survive a stroke or debilitating condition like Alzheimer’s. We are barely conscious of all that is going on around us. The more science studies the brain, the more convincing is the evidence that all our mental states derive from the workings of the trillions of interconnected neurons. If something disrupts them, thinking ceases.
What about ghosts, ESP, other paranormal phenomenon? None have any validity. It is all wishful thinking. Anytime claims of such things are studied, they are shown to be either mistaken or fraudulent.
I once told an undertaker that I didn’t believe in life after death. He said “I don’t either. This is it”. I asked him didn’t he ever see a ghost? He just laughed and said no.
I have actually had two near death experiences. I went down the tunnel toward the light and heard the buzzing. But I woke up gasping for breath, so I concluded that the near death experience is nature’s way of waking us up when we have stopped breathing during sleep. I attributed that to sleep apnea. It’s strange that the experience is pleasurable and peaceful. I guess nature compensates in the end for living.
I also have had two recent experiences of general anesthesia. I think it's like dying except you wake up. One second I was talking to the Dr. The next thing I knew I was awake in the recovery room. There was nothing in between. It's not like sleeping where I usually have an idea how long I was asleep. I remember when we had to put my dog to sleep. The vet said he would give her an anesthetic but more than for an operation so she wouldn't wake up.
So, where does that leave us? There is no life after death. This is it. We are a phenomenon of nature. We will have to accept that and make the best of our situation, or chose to continue the delusion. The problem with continuing the delusion is that it leads to choices that mitigate against the survival of the human race.
Sometimes I like to muse about other types of life after death based on hypothesized parallel worlds of quantum mechanics and thinking about consciousness and what it is that makes me me. It seems possible that there is life after death, kind of like reincarnation, but that I would not remember the previous life, so it would not be me. If there really were parallel worlds, some of them would differ so slightly from this world, that I could expect to exist there. So, where are they? If I have no memory from one world to another, I would be like just another person with no continuity from world to world.
Similiarly in thinking about what makes me me and you you, I have speculated that perhaps we are all really the same “person”. But, my awareness is localized in my brain and yours in you., a product of a specific time and place. At death, all consciousness and memory ceases, but since we are all the same “person” I would live again as another person with no memory of my previous life.
Granted, I am getting a bit far out, but it’s fun to speculate. It might be helpful to the human race to realize that we may be all the same person.