“In what sense, then, would the most advanced SETI aliens not be gods? In what sense would they be superhuman but not super-natural?”
Prof. Richard Dawkins, from his book “The God Delusion”
“The Truth Is Out There.”
The recurring motto from the TV series “The X Files”
The primary purpose of this article is to present a reasonably brief yet reasonably thorough overview of the great sweep of scientific requirements related to the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence—SETI. Also, this article is currently a ‘work in progress’ in that I will be making certain assertions later in the article regarding biochemistry based on preliminary conclusions which may require correction, modification, or deletion upon further investigation. With that caveat I procede with my evaluation of the likelyhood of true Earth-like planets, the workings of atheist naturalist evolution, and the possible rise of advanced SETI techno-god lifeforms—and their associated UFO interplanetary spacecraft—on other planets in the observable universe. I will touch only briefly and infrequently on the subject of theistic Old Earth Creationism. Virtually all of the material in this article derives from the fruits of the modern, established, mainline Sciences.
For the first time in the history of our species (indeed, in the entire history of life on Earth), the modern Sciences have given mankind a view of the universe that is virtually complete. From the quantum to the cosmic, through the full spread of the electromagnetic spectrum, and from the Time Zero ‘inflationary hot big bang’ origins event to the present day, the scientific Picture is remarkably clear and is only becoming more and more detailed with each passing day. However, the Picture still has places that are doubtful or obscure. What follows is my attempt to bring clarity to these questions and to ‘fill in the blanks’ so as to complete the Picture.
The examination will proceed according to the following list:
As regards the basic constants, ratios and laws governing our Cosmos, the reader will find authors in the Reference list who will provide more thorough detail. In general, the many constants, ratios and laws of this universe (gravity, electromagnetism, thermodynamics, speed of light, etc., etc.) that allow the possibility of advanced complex lifeforms are incredibly exacting, yet independent of each other. Such an alignment of a wide array of independent factors must be either the result of an unbelievably fantastic lucky stroke of a single role of the physics dice at our unique Time Zero, or require an appeal to an infinite number of roles of those dice, with our particular universe as just one of a multitude of lucky winners. We are here, therefore atheist naturalism must try to account for either an incredibly improbable single role of the physics dice at our unique TZ, or account for an infinitely crowded multiverse. This multiverse, however, would exist in a trans-cosmic, possibly extra-dimensional, and eternally transcendent metaphysical realm beyond the detectable/testable/verifiable reach of our physical Sciences; at least as they currently stand.
Getting to Earth-like planetary solar system development will require a short trip through the first nine billion years of cosmic and galactic development. Beginning at Time Zero, our tiny universe was an extremely hot and dense blob of quantum particles and energy in a rapidly expanding Space-Time Continuum. After approximately four minutes of expansion and cooling, the first atomic elements (all of the hydrogen that will ever exist, along with some helium and small quantities of a few of the lighter elements) formed. The ensuing years and millenia brought the beginnings of cosmic structure. Millions of years with copious hydrogen allowed the formation of medium to giant sized stars and the formation of primordial galaxies, thereby beginning the seeding of the young universe with the heavier elements necessary for life-sustaining planets through normal star evolution and supernovae explosions.
After about nine billion years we are at the point in cosmic development where fully formed, mature, and stable spiral galactic structures exist (especially our own Milky Way Galaxy) and hydrogen gas clouds within stable spiral galaxies have the chance of forming reasonably Sun-like stars. It bears mentioning that there are really only three ingredients needed to make a basic Sun-like star: a sufficiently dense cloud of hydrogen, gravity, and time. But what we have here is nothing more than a thermonuclear fusion hydrogen gas ball producing radiant energy, helium, and some of the lighter elements (i.e. a ‘metal poor’ star). Such stars are certainly out there by the trillions, but there is virtually no material around these stars (i.e., a primordial accretion debris field) to make planetary systems, including rocky Earth-like planets. Getting the material necessary to form planetary systems is optional, at extra cost.
At this point we must slow down considerably in order to take into account a number of factors that play into the formation of actual planetary systems that could result in life-sustaining planets comparable to the ‘blue jewel of life’ we call Earth, and the possible rise of SETI creatures. The first of the considerations are the four minimally required factors for volumes of space necessary for the development of such planetary systems. They are:
The first stop is on the subject of damaging or sterilizing radiation. It's a real shooting gallery out there, and on a galactic level the physical positioning of possibly SETI-qualified stellar systems is very important. High levels of potentially lethal radiation stream out of galactic cores, with more localized radiation due to higher levels of supernovae explosions from neighboring star-clustering in the galactic arms contributing to the hazard, thereby disqualifying the vast majority of the volume of space in all types of galaxies. For the best chance of the occurance of life-supporting planets and rise of SETI creatures, all potential systems must reside in the sparsely populated regions between the arms of spiral galaxies (to minimize lethal radiation and gravitational disturbances), at or near the galactic plane (for maximum radiation shielding from the core), and at or near the galactic co-rotation radius away from the core so as to allow these candidate systems to track along with galactic rotation over the course of hundreds of millions and billions of years in these most protected and stable regions of space.
Our next stop regards gravitational disturbance. All potentially SETI-qualified star systems in all spiral galaxies throughout the cosmos must have planets traveling in reasonably circular orbits, and be reasonably safe from late-term asteroid/cometary bombardment events caused by gravitaional disturbance of debris clouds around these young stellar systems. It is critical that neighboring stars (along with black holes and neutron stars) not be close enough so as to gravitationally interfere with these circular planetary orbits and debris clouds, therefore all neighboring stellar-mass objects must be sufficiently distanced from our candidate parent stars. Once again we find that the galactic core and spiral arms are disqualified, this time due to the gravitational disturbances caused by stellar overcrowding and/or stellar drift, therefore only the sparsely populated regions between the arms of spiral galaxies can possibly satisfy this requirement.
Indeed, the problems of excessive radiation and gravitational disturbance are what disqualify all other types of galaxies (lenticular, elliptical, etc.). They simply won't have regions of space that will allow stable, shielded planetary systems with all planets traveling in reasonably circular orbits over the course of the billions of years necessary in order to fully terraform an Earth-like planet. Only those very special volumes of space between galactic spirals, near the galactic plane, and at the galactic co-rotation radius will be suitable for SETI-qualified systems. Relative to the overall size of a spiral galaxy, these safe and stable volumes of space are actually very small, very few, and very far between.
Getting closer to our new planetary system, the next point regards stelar radiation. On a local level, the parent star of a planetary system emits radiation that directly affects all planets in the system. Certain levels and spectral distribution of radiation from the parent star are critical for the occurance and rise of advanced life in that system. As the authors of the book Rare Earth pointed out, such radiation is a highly non-linear factor of stellar mass. They used ultraviolet radiation to illustrate. Our Sun radiates approximately four percent of its energy in the ultraviolet portion of the electromagnet spectrum; just sufficient to aid life without overwhelming our Ozone Layer, which would sterilize the surface of the Earth. Increasing the mass of a star to just fifty percent greater than the Sun results in an ultraviolet output of more than ninety percent; far too great to allow advanced life. On the other hand, reducing the mass of a star to just half the mass of the Sun reduces ultraviolet output to less than one-tenth the output of the Sun; far too little to sustain advanced life as regards SETI. In practical reality, and for several additional reasons beyond the scope of this short article, all potentially SETI-suitable stars throughout the entire cosmos must be fairly close to the mass and type of our own G-II, yellow dwarf star—the Sun.
I now get to the issue of the development of true SETI-qualified Earth-like planets. The critical necessity of obtaining the full spread of the naturally occurring Periodic Table of Elements in order to form true Earth-like planets throughout the cosmos is obvious enough, but actually obtaining this full spread is not as easy or assured as atheist naturalists lead us to believe. Normal Sun-like star evolution, all the way through the Red Giant phase to the end result of a White Dwarf Planetary Nebula, produces most—if not all—of the lighter elements from Helium up to Manganese. Novae and supernovae explosion events produce all of the heavier elements from Iron out to Uranium. But here's the rub. There are at least seven different types of supernavae, but there is no single type of supernova explosion that produces all of these heavier elements.
Thanks to the fruits of the mainline Sciences of the past fifty years, it is now known that in order to form and properly seed the accretion debris field of a well positioned young Sun-like star with the full spread of elements requires the detonation of three specific and different types of supernovae (a Type Ia nova, and two different, and specific, species of Type II supernovae). Along with these three very specific supernovae events, it is also now known that we definitely need at least one Binary Neutron Star Merger and maybe a White Dwarf Planetary Nebula event to fully round out the Periodic Table of Elements. Bear in mind that all of these totally independent celestial events must happen in correct proximity of time and space (not too early or too late in the candidate star's life, and not too close or too far away from the star) to allow the presence of such elements in the parent star's primordial accretion debris field in sufficient quantities and proportions so as to allow the rise of actual Earth-like rocky planets essential to SETI, civilization, science, high technology—and UFOs.
It must be strenuously emphasized at this point that each and every potential volume of space throughout the entire cosmos must satisfy all four of the above points, or else it is disqualified from consideration. Atheist naturalists tend to muddy the waters by disingenuously asserting that there are billions of suitable volumes of space throughout the cosmos, therefore there are billions of earth-like planetary systems throughout the cosmos. However, an honest appraisal of each such volume of space will likely show a failure on one or more of the above four points. Those billions of volumes of potentially suitable space will almost certainly disappear upon critical evaluation. Due to the utterly contingent and random nature of planetary formation, any rocky Earth-like planets that might possibly form around these young Sun-like stars will almost certainly either be outside the Habitable Zones or be in unusable elliptical orbits, and/or be deficient or lacking in critically important elements. Proceeding onward…
Assuming the ignition of reasonably Sun-like stars in favorably sheltered and stable regions of spiral galaxies throughout the Cosmos, seeded with sufficient material to form SETI-essential rocky planets, we now have to actually get those planets in overall systems conducive to advanced lifeforms. We know what happened in our own Solar System, but in an atheistic universe without Guide or Direction only blind chance physics determines outcomes. Assuming the formation of suitable planets in these systems, all properly positioned and spaced, and traveling in reasonably circular orbits (which is by no means a certainty), we now get down to the question of obtaining roughly Earth-sized, Earth-massed rocky planets in reasonably circular orbits within the Habitable Zones of these parent stars—again, on a cosmic basis by blindest chance.
These primordial Habitable Zones, however, will each stand at a crossroads. There are an almost unlimited number of planetary developmental pathways possible through physics, astrophysics, and planetary geology/hydrology. Virtually all such pathways will preclude the possibility of the rise of advanced SETI lifeforms. Mercury, Venus, Mars, the Asteroid Belt beyond Mars, and the gas planet Jupiter, all demonstrate possible planetary developmental pathways within Habitable Zones that would lead, quite literally, to dead-ends. Something truly extraordinary must happen within Habitable Zones to form candidate planets with a pathway allowing a truly Earth-like and fully terraformed planet fit for advanced lifeforms and the possibility of SETI techno-gods.
Earth itself is highly cautionary at this point, however, because the extremely Contingent/Chaotic/Non-linear (CCN) events that transpired here from primordial stellar accretion debris field around five billion years ago to current blue jewel of life were fantastically improbable in the first place and would be almost impossible to dublicate elsewhere in the universe. I mention nine utterly Contingent factors that shaped the actual natural history of Planet Earth, and would shape the geological and biological natural histories of all potentially “Earth-like” planets throughout the universe:
Change any of these and you will get a natural history of life on those other planets markedly different from what happened on Earth——and that's making the huge assumption that life even occurs on these other planets. Most important in the transformation of Earth to the almost idealized conditions of today was the utterly contingent Moon Formation Impact Event, along with the utterly random, chaotic asteroid/comet bombardments of early Earth. Planetary scientists are in something of a flux right now as to exactly what happened with the Moon Formation Impact Event around four and a half billion years ago, but all current ideas on the subject indicate something wildly improbable in our particular instance, with duplication in other stellar systems all but impossible. Therefore, atheist naturalist astrophysicists and planetary geologists are going to have to come up with a Planetary Developmental Model that is not dependent upon an utterly improbable Major Impact Event, and has some true likelihood of dependably producing and terraforming planets on a relatively frequent basis—again, on a cosmos-wide scale. Failure to produce such a Planetary Developmental Model will derail the SETI train just as it leaves the station.
The blind chance occurance of minimally terraformable rocky planets throughout the cosmos presents to atheist naturalists a pair of problems which may be intractable. The first problem is the independent rise of life itself on each of those planets, and the second problem is the oxygenation of planetary atmospheres along with the formation of protective ozone layers. The first problem is a bit of a sticky situation for atheist evolutionists because after more than a century of intense scientific investigation they have not yet explained the naturalistic origin of life here on Earth, let alone how it could independently occur numerous times cosmos-wide. As Stewart Kaufman of the Santa Fe Institute put it in his book At Home in the Universe (pg. 31), “Anyone who tells you that he or she knows how life started on the earth some 3.45 billion years ago is a fool or a knave. Nobody knows. Indeed, we may never recover the actual historical sequence of molecular events that led to the first self reproducing, evolving molecular systems to flower forth more than 3 million millennia ago. But if the historical pathway should forever remain hidden, we can still develop bodies of theory and experiment to show how life might realistically have crystallized, rooted, then covered the globe. Yet the caveat: nobody knows.”
The origin of life on Earth still remains to the present day as one of the great unanswered—and perhaps unanswerable—questions of Science.
At this point I must say that I am amazed to find that many atheist naturalists in the Scientific community are actually asserting that life is common throughout the universe. It appears they have not thought this one through to its obvious conclusion, otherwise they would not touch this idea with a ten-foot pole. No doubt they think that the commonness of life cosmos-wide would get rid of God. In reality, just the opposite would be the case. If life itself is common throughout the universe, then life can not be a mere naturalistic chemical “accident”. Life would have to be a deeply embedded, automatically emergent property of the physics, chemistry and mathmatics of this universe starting at Time Zero.
This does not get rid of God. Quite the contrary, this fact would make the God of Genesis 1 absolutely mandatory. And not like some local pagan/heathen god who creates willynilly ‘on the fly’ as it goes along, but as the eternally transcendent Lord God Almighty who intentionally, specifically, and copiously creates before Time Zero; has the power and capacity of incorporating that creative Work into the very fabric of the new universe at Time Zero; and the stately Sovereignty to guide that universe along a particular natural historical path from Time Zero, through 13.8 billion years of cosmic/terrestrial development, to our present day.
My God, how great Thou art.
So, atheist naturalists, you may pick your poison. If life is unique to planet Earth, then the God of Genesis 1 is nearly one hundred percent certain. If life is common throughout the cosmos, the probability of God hits one hundred percent.
Bon appétit!
Moving on to the second problem of the oxygenation of planetary atmospheres, I will now be making assertions regarding biochemistry which further study may require modification or retraction. Oxygen is a key component in a truly terraformed planet because it is the only chemically reactive yet reasonably stable element/substance that is sufficiently abundant in the universe that has the capability of supporting the high metabolic rates required by advanced SETI-level creatures, along with providing an ozone shield against damaging or lethal UV radiation from the parent star. All other elemental candidates are either too chemically reactive, and/or don't produce an ozone layer, and/or not sufficiently abundant in the universe to support the chemistry of advanced SETI lifeforms.
Now, there are only two possible ways in which planetary atmospheres can be oxygenated: volcanic action and photosynthesis. Volcanos, along with all other related gas-emitting geological activity, spew out a lot of stuff including some free oxygen. The problem here is that oxygen is chemically reactive, quickly combines with other substances during both organic and inorganic chemical reactions, and is therefore taken out of play and must be replaced with fresh oxygen. This, however, would require continuous and extensive volcanic action on a planetwide basis to the present day. Not only would volcanos not be able to produce enough free oxygen to create a surplus in the oceans and atmosphere, such volcanic action would disrupt any possible evolution of higher, complex lifeforms on the habitable planets throughout the cosmos. Further complicating matters would be the volcanic support of anaerobic, methane/sulphur producing organisms inimical to the accumulation of free oxygen in the atmosphere. Please read the books and the linked article found in the References/Resources section at end for elaboration. It turns out that volcanos really cannot get the job done.
That leaves photosynthesis, which presents to atheist naturalists a full suite of problems. First up is the problem of getting the light-harvesting chlorophyll class of molecules (and their associated energy transfer proteins) that form the basis of photosynthesis. While there are a few other molecules with some limited light-harvesting capabilities, my ongoing studies indicate that no other known molecule(s) will drive full-blown, large-scale oxygenating photosynthesis. The problem here is that the chlorophylls (both bacterial and green plant) are complex, difficult molecules that must be constructed in a lengthy, very specific, stepwise, sequential manner. That is, the chlorophylls NEVER self assemble in nature and therefore would not be present in the early-Earth environment for evolutionary natural selection. They exist in the natural background only as abstract chemical potentials requiring conscious intentional actuation.
Even assuming the easy availability of every last one of at least 32 discrete chemical steps needed for the naturalistic self assembly of chlorophyll at the very dawn of life roughly 3.5 billion years ago, mindless atheist naturalist evolution would be utterly incapable of arranging those discrete chemical steps into a strict sequential order as a fully functioning, permanent, synthetic system blindly producing the tremendous numbers of chlorophyll molecules neccesary for natural selection and atheist evolution; has no brain and therefore would not be able to generate the complex, abstract DNA Code detailing the construction and operation of this synthetic system; has no intentionality and therefore would not be able to load this specific abstract Code into the overall nucleotide sequence of the complete organism DNA molecule for physical actuation. This would not be a problem for an intentional Creator Deity, but is really a brick wall for atheist evolution. If you cannot get the light-harvesting chlorophylls, you cannot get photosynthesis. No photosynthesis, no oxygenated atmosphere and Ozone Layer. No oxygenated atmosphere, no SETI-level evolution. It's ‘game over’ for atheist naturalism—cosmos wide.
Generously assuming the accidental rise of the chlorophylls, we find that all of the rest of the bio-molecules, biosynthetic mechanisms, and molecular nanomachines of photosynthesis (and ATP production, for that matter) are just as intractable. There will be no way for mindless, goalless, undirected atheist evolution to produce all of these complex molecules and mechanisms, in the tremendous numbers and high chemical concentrations required for unguided evolutionary natural selection, regardless the time allowed for their naturalistic and accidental occurance. But even assuming their virtually instantaneous appearance in this primative early Earth-like state, the entire complex process of photosynthesis itself (along with general cellular metabolism) would have had to have accidentally come into existence as fully integrated wholes, and then been incorporated into some overall controlling mechanism. On Earth, that ‘mechanism’ is the fantastically complex, mathematically abstract, and specifically functional genetic codes physicalized in DNA molecules (both of which are extremely improbable—if not outright impossible—through chemical self assembly, natural selection, and evolution). This, or some other equivalent mechanism, must quickly arise independently at First Life purely by chance, ex nihilo and in toto, or else—once again—it is ‘game over’ for atheist evolution—everywhere.
While we're on the subject of DNA, I pose this question to atheist naturalists. Is the DNA Code of Life a purely local phenomenon, or is the Code universal? For example, will the DNA code for a fruit fly get a fruit fly only on planet Earth; and then only in direct chemical connection with all prior fruit flies and ancestor creatures back to an accidental First Life? Or will that Code, effected anywhere in the universe that a fruit fly could physically exist, get you a fruit fly? As a Biblical Christian I am on extremely strong ground regardless the answer. If purely local, the probability of the naturalistic rise of the DNA Code of Life is virtually zero, while if the Code is universal then that Code would have had to have been established before Time Zero, embedded into the very fabric of the new universe at TZ, and then lay dormant for many billions of years while awaiting favorable physical conditions for actuation. Therefore, the probability of naturalistic evolution hits absolute zero, while the probability (the necessity) of the God of Genesis hits 100%. As above, atheist naturalists may pick their poison.
Also, if the DNA Code of Life is truly universal, then this question is of critical importance because it would be a fundamentally Scientific question that could—at least in principle—be tested in the laboratory. Now, the direct question regarding fruit flies might be beyond the reach of the current ‘state of the art’ in laboratory synthesis, but there might be other, simpler, tests that can be done to resolve the question. Eventurally, however, Science will progress to the point where this specific question can be directly tested—and answered.
In order to move ahead with this article we must simply assume the occurance of life, photosynthesis, and an oxygenated atmosphere with ozone layer on every one of the planets that achieve fully terraformed habitability. We are now faced with the problem of getting a natural history of life that actually culminates in advanced SETI-level creatures. I must now define ‘SETI creature’ with a little more rigor. A while back I read this very neat definition: “A SETI creature is one that is capable of designing and constructing a radio telescope”. With this definition, the natural history of life on Earth once again gives pause. There are currently on planet Earth several creatures other than modern humans that must be regarded as ‘intelligent’: whales, dolphins, elephants, parrots, crows, pigs, rats, dogs, cats, octopuses, monkeys, the high apes, etc., yet none qualify according to the definition.
Whales, pigs, and elephants may have the requisite brainpower, but they are somewhat ‘opposable-thumb’ challenged. They could, conceivably, design a radio telescope but could never build one. Monkeys and the high apes have the manual dexterity but lack the IQ for the job. If Neanderthals and Denisovans had the capabilities to achieve the radio telescope, they (along with all of the other Hominids) went extinct before getting much beyond mastering fire and basic stone tools. In the three and a half billion years of life on Earth, we—modern Homo Sapiens Sapiens—are the only ones ever mentally and physically capable of this feat—and to actually achieve it!
That final point above puts the problem of any natural biological history in stark relief. Atheist naturalistic evolution has no conscious brain, sets no goals or objectives, and doesn't care if anything happens at all. Therefore, evolution is in no way required to deliver up even one single creature capable of making a radio telescope—in the entire universe, throughout all time! Evolution could have missed our species entirely or sent us to the scrapheap of extinction along with our close cousins, as could very well be the case with all advanced lifeforms throughout the cosmos. That is, getting basic life and actually getting advanced, civilized, scientific, technological SETI creatures from basic life are two very widely separated issues. The first is necessary for the second, but the first absolutely does not guarantee the second—or even make it likely.
Moving forward, we will assume the rise of SETI-level creatures on each of the fully terraformed, habitable planets in the cosmos. Does this automatically give us SETI technological gods? By no means! Human history itself gives serious pause. In the thousands of years of recorded human history, with its multitude of complex cultures and high civilizations worldwide, only one has allowed us to achieve that radio telescope: Christianized Western Europe. All others missed the target; some by only a thin margin. But that ‘thin margin’ can be the difference between being an intelligent SETI lifeform and being a ‘SETI technology god’ lifeform. Had modern humanity missed that mark we would be no more significant, from a SETI perspective, than whales and elephants—and Neanderthals.
We have achieved the radio telescope. Are we SETI techno-gods? Well, no, not really. At best we are currently living in squalor at the base of Mount Olympus while staring self-inflicted extinction square in the face. Having achieved the radio telescope we are in the infancy of SETI god technology. Forget starships, X-wing fighters, and Imperial cruisers. We're having trouble right now with dependable Low Earth Orbit heavy lift capability, and the International Space Station is little more than a child's Tinker Toy. Interstellar travel is on a cold back burner. But what about other SETI techno-gods (i.e., UFOs) coming to Earth? It should be obvious by now that we are almost certainly alone in the Milky Way Galaxy, therefore if such SETI creatures actually exist at all, they are very few in number and probably reside in such distant galaxies that they would never know of our existance, let alone have the capital “G” God-like technological capabilities to be able to quickly traverse the vastness of intergalactic space in order to get here during our species lifetime.
If atheist naturalism is true in reality, then modern humanity in our actual universe is an astoundingly improbable freak of nature in a cosmos with an actual physical reality rendered unique not only by the basic cosmic Constants, Ratios, and Natural Laws at our Time Zero (TZ), but also by the extremely complex outworkings of natural history through Contingency, Chaos, and Nonlinearity (CCN) from our TZ, through many billions of years, to the present day. Because atheist naturalist physics (which must now operate transcendently) has no brain; no awareness; sets no goals and has no objectives, it must blindly achieve and exhaust all possibilities for all Time Zeros (see graphic, below). I dare say that it would take a full infinity to run through all possible combinations of Constants, ratios, physical laws and other related Factors for all possible universes in order to randomly hit the precise specifications for our exact TZ.
An X-axis second dimension of infinities is required because every last TZ universe will have an unlimited number of possible natural historical results due to the complex outworkings of Contingency, Chaos, and Nonlinearity (CCN) within those universes over the course of billions of years. Atheist Naturalism would not only have to produce an infinity of TZs to randomly hit our TZ, but would have to plow through every last infinite X-axis possibility of CCN in every last one of those infinite TZs in order to blindly stumble upon—us! And that would include the virtual infinity of ‘us’ that either misses the radio telescope or goes extinct before achieving civilization, science, and high technology. That is, the infinite multiverses of ‘us’ that doesn't matter!
Adding a Z-axis third dimension of fun is that once you rip the lid off the Pandora's Box of ‘infinity’, you would have to allow that there would be an infinite number of duplications of every last one of the X-Y two dimensional possibilities.
In for a penny, in for a pound…
Friar William of Ockham advised that, “Entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity.” The Bible says, “In the begining, God created the heavens and the earth.” That is a single Entity multiplied by one overall creative Work. A single, conscious and intentional Diety can go directly to the exact specifications for our actual TZ, and then shephard that singular universe along a particular CCN natural history from TZ to our present day. The atheist naturalist position, however, is saddled with all possible entities multiplied by at least four dimensions of infinity—perhaps a fifth, if you allow that these infinities have been popping into existence throughout all transcendent eternity. This begs the questions of what could possibly house all these infinities, and why the various universes are not colliding with each oth
NOTE: It is with great regret that I must inform the gentle reader that the author of this work, Mr. Brian Bloedel, has been struck and killed by an intruding alternate universe. I, !%*@=? of the colliding $~£¥¿ cosmos will endeavor to finish the work as intended. I apologize for any inconvenience to the reader—and author;-)
In conclusion, an atheist explanation of our universe as it actually exists from Time Zero to the present day requires an extremely long series of incredibly fortuitous, non-repeatable, accidental events—liberally sprinkled with IMPOSSIBLES—each and every one of which would be fantastically unlikely even under the most ridiculously favorable conditions. If any step in this series fails or misfires, then there will be no ‘us’, and no SETI techno-god lifeforms anywhere in the cosmos. The Biblical theistic position, with its conscious and purposeful Diety, has none of these limitations or problems. So the choice is yours: atheism, which operates at absolute 0% probability, or Biblical ”Old Earth“ theism, which operates at absolute 100% probability. This seems a ‘no-brainer’ to me.
I end this article with observations on a subject that seems to have captured the imagination of the general public: the colonization of other planets. The stated goal of such colonization would be to ensure the survival of our species against terrestrial extinction. This certainly seems a laudable goal, but there are technological and philosophical problems that should be honestly addressed.
The technological problems of interstellar space travel and planetary colonization are truly Legion. The most immediate problems include radiation/debris shielding, propulsion, life support/suspended animation, and developing all technologies with the ability to function flawlessly over spans of time measured in decades—if not centuries. Humanity will absolutely need to colonize our Moon and Mars just to gain the requisite experience and to perfect all methods and technologies. After all, if we cannot successfully get our collective act together so as to fully colonize Mars (which is right next door; almost spittin' distance) then all hope for interstellar travel and planetary colonization is mere pipe dream.
Assuming that humanity unites worldwide so that all sociopolitical, economic and technological problems are solved, spacecraft constructed and planetary destinations identified, we must honestly ask ourselves a couple of important philosophical questions. First, does humanity really deserve to be perpetuated by galactic expansion? Considering the royal mess we've made of Earth, we're really unlikely to do better elsewhere. We would only be spreading the disease. If Klaatu and Gort actually exist, their wisest course of action upon First Contact should be to wipe us out——with “Extreme Prejudice”.
Second, what will we do if we get to another planet and find lifeforms comparable to humanity ten thousand years ago? That is, lifeforms that are SETI advanced but not yet technologically advanced? Remember, our goal is planetary colonization. Read that as “planetary conquest”. Let's call it what it actually would be. These space travelers, upon finding such creatures, would not say, “Oops! Already occupied. Let's go home.” No, at that point our intrepid space folk would do whatever necessary to take the planet—even committing species extermination. Hey, we're already doing that now on planet Earth, so why would we have any qualms about doing it elsewhere? Of course, this would make us the “UFO Space Alien” invaders! In such case we'd better hope they don't have a Will Smith in their ranks…
To sum up this subject, the technological problems involved with interstellar space travel and plantetary colonization are so extreme, and progress towards those goals so scant, that I can safely say that you—along with every last man, woman and baby on this planet right now—will be dead of old age long before the first such craft is ready to embark on its maiden—and one way—voyage to the stars. Let's face it: the final fate of mankind will be decided in the fairly near future right here on good old planet Earth.
In final closing, “The Truth Is Out There”, but you're going to have to dig for it. If this article has served its purpose, the reader will be spurred to deeply investigate these questions in order to determine if there really is a transcendent, supernatural, creator diety—specifically, the Creator God of Genesis 1 in the Bible. If you conclude that God might plausibly exist, then the hope of life after death should be given greatest consideration. The ‘Prime Directive’ of Darwinian naturalism is to survive; to live! The raison dêtre of Biblical Christianity is eternal life. If there is even a ghost of a chance that Jesus can deliver on the promise of John 3:16 then that promise deserves the highest priority of your time and effort. After all, it's not like you are risking anything. If the atheists are correct, your time and effort—your very life itself—are futile almost by definition. Your ultimate and unavoidable fate in an atheist universe is eternal oblivion. In the end it's your life; your eternity. So dig deeply and choose wisely.
What have you got to lose?
The devil is in the details, but God is to be found in the fundamentals.
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
Dr. Peter D. Moore
Historical Geology
©2002, Facts on File, Inc., NY, NY.
(Really, just pick any decent Planetary Geology text written by any qualified author. The Science of the past twenty years has only solidified the assertions presented in this article.)
Dr. Stuart Kauffman
At Home in the Universe: The Search for the Laws of Self-Organization and Complexity
©1995, Oxford Universtiy Press
Hugh Ross (PhD, astronomy)
A Matter of Days
Creation As Science
The Creator and the Cosmos
www.reasons.org
Fazale Rana (PhD, chemistry) and Dr. Hugh Ross
Origins of Life
www.reasons.org
Drs. Paul J. Steinhardt and Neil Turok
Endless Universe: Beyond the Big Bang
©2007, Doubleday, NY, NY.
(Technically, this book explains and defends the Ekpyrotic cyclical universe theory. However, as the Authors point out, the Ekpyrotic and Big Bang theories very quickly merge to give the same observable results, therefore I recommend this book as a good overveiw of general Cosmology.)
Dr. Martin Rees
Just Six Numbers; The Deep Forces That Shape the Universe
©2000, Basic Books, NY, NY.
Drs. Peter Ward & Donald Brownlee
Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe
©2000, Copernicus Books, NY, NY.
Moon Formation Impact Event: Moon formation
Volcanism and anaerobic organisms
Chlorophyll biosynthetic pathway:
Biosynthesis
Dr. Robert B. Woodward laboratory synthesis of chlorophyll:
Woodward synthesis
Dr. Roderick K. Clayton
Photosynthesis: physical mechanisms and chemical patterns
©1980, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England
(As with planetary geology, our knowledge regarding photosynthesis has only improved in the past forty years, and the implications of that knowledge only solidifies the assertions made in this article.
Drs. Staehelin and Arntzen, eds.
Photosysnthesis III; Photosysnthetic Membranes and Light Harvesting Systems
©1986, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, GmbH
Dr. Walter Harm
Biological effects of ultraviolet radiation
©1980, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England
(I doubt that scientific research in the past forty years has shown UV radiation to be less harmful to the DNA in living organisms.)
Dr. James D. Watson, with Andrew Berry
DNA: The Secret of Life
©2004, Alfred A. Knopf, New York
Oliver Morton
Eating the Sun (How Plants Power the Planet)
©2008, HarperCollins, NY, NY.
Dr. Paul G. Falkowski
LIFE'S ENGINES How Microbes Made Earth Habitable
©2015, Princeton University Press
Dr. Donald Eugene Canfield
OXYGEN A Four Billion Year History
©2014, Princeton University Press
Dr. Richard Fortey
LIFE A Natural History of the First Four Billion Years of Life on Earth
©1997, Alfred A. Knopf, NY, NY
Viginia Hamilton
IN THE BEGINNING Creation Stories from Around the World
©1988, Harcourt, Inc., NY, NY.
Prof. Barbara C. Sproul
PRIMAL MYTHS Creation Myths Around the World
©1979, HarperCollins, NY, NY.
(NOTE: More than 120 myths presented in this book in addition to the Biblical passages.)
My ‘letter to the editor’ regarding manned space flight:
Letter to the editor
Printed Friday, July 29, 1994 in the Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk) newspaper. It is as relevant today as when first published.
My letter to Dr. Michael Shirmer at the Skeptics Society regarding Darwinian Evolution:
Letter to Dr. Shirmer
Scroll down about half way through this multi-letter page to find my letter, which begins: “I have been waging a one-man war…”.