Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Origin of life: Ah, that "just so happens" series of intermediate chemical steps ...

A friend writes to say,

I was in DC earlier this year and snapped this shot of the OOL display in the Smithsonian. I got a chuckle....The top caption reads: "

"No one knows how life arose from non-living matter, but most scientists think it happened through a series of intermediate, chemical steps, rather than all at once."

Of course, the glaring thing is that the entire display is BLANK, so I guess that means we're called to be imaginative.
Yes, friend! The randomly firing buzz of neurons in your brain that generates the illusion of your mind can generate imaginative cooperation, and a host of other things as well. SO dream on!
Of course, the display could also have triggered academic warfare or vandalized by an unenlightened person or ... I sense research grants in the works ....
Actually, it is a good thing if we admit that we do not know the things we do not know. Half the trouble today is caused by people who say they do know (but they don't).
What they really have is strong opinions - today, usually, in favour of materialism - but they don't have credible information. And the two do easily get confused.