Abiogenesis bugs me.
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, abiogenesis is
“the idea that life arose from nonlife”. Sure, okay. Life started here on
earth, right? We know this, we’re the living proof. But let’s, for a minute,
just break down the word abiogenesis.
The prefix a- means “without” or “not”. It indicates
the absence of whatever it is prefacing. ANd then there's “bio” originating from Greek and meaning “relating to life”. And finally, there's genesis, which means a beginning of something.
absence + life + beginning
absence + life + beginning
Roughly, we’re talking about the absence of life beginning life.
I like the word, really I do. I think it’s a great
word that indicates its meaning really, really well.
What I don’t like is having no idea or explanation for
abiogenesis. At some point in earth’s past, there was not life. And then, there
was. Why? What happened? There aren’t even really any theories to explain it.
Even if we don’t know for sure (which, to be clear, we rarely do) I want an
idea that I can throw my weight behind and say (You know? That sounds right
enough? I’ll believe it and my narrative will make sense with it.”
That’s what I want. I want a story.
The thing is, the rocks I collected as a kid aren’t
suddenly going to become alive in the box where they sit under my bed. That’s not
in the nature of the things. Things that aren’t in motion don’t start moving
without causes. That’s just not how it works.
So, I’m starting a new blog. This might be the
beginning of a new life. And it might seem to be coming from nowhere to the
outside observer. But I can tell you, there are a myriad of things behind the
scenes that are causing this. So maybe that’s the point of abiogenesis? A lot of
little things added up over a really long time until at some point, inorganic
compounds were moved to life.
Oh well, it’ll do for now.