Panspermia: What It Is and Why It Matters: An Introductory

Panspermia: What It Is and Why It Matters: An Introductory Essay

The term panspermia comes from two Greek words: â€œpan,â€ which means â€œallâ€ and â€œsperma,â€ which means â€œseed.â€ Panspermia is actually an umbrella term that describes any scientific theory that posits that all life as we know it on earth began in outer space. The idea therefore assumes that life exists elsewhere in the universe, perhaps even abundantly, and that such life was a catalyst to life on earth. Positing that life began in outer space, though, says little.

Broadly-defined panspermia can actually be thought of in two ways by scientists. An â€œextremeâ€ view of panspermia, also known as cosmic ancestry, contends life has always existed everywhere in the universe. In this view, life was not transported to earth and has no single origin. As the earth was formed in the wake of the Big Bang, living microbes, themselves formed after t took up residence on the new planet. The same process was repeated throughout the universe in countless places. The second view is more common, that earth at one time did not have life, and so the ingredients for life came from elsewhere in space.

How living microbes from space came to the earth to spawn terrestrial life as we know it is debated by panspermia theorists. Options once again are categorized in two ways: undirected or non-intelligent panspermia, and directed or intelligent panspermia. Undirected panspermia presumes that the ingredients of life came to earth apart from any sort of intelligence, divine or extraterrestrial. The process was completely random. Directed or intelligent panspermia conjectures that a non-terrestrial intelligence, either divine or extraterrestrial, served as catalyst for the seeding of life.

Undirected and directed panspermia can be further nuanced by how proponents imagine the seeding of life indeed occurred. Undirected panspermia theorists often appeal to meteor and asteroid impact or radiation pressure for the interplanetary transfer of the basic elements of life to earth.

Directed panspermia proponents are few in number, as this mechanistic option calls for intelligent intention of the seeding of life on earth. Once again, this idea can be further refined into two variants. The first propounds that the intelligent agents behind the deliberate seeding of life on earth and other planets are intelligent extraterrestrials. The second directed panspermia variant proposes that life was seeded from space under the providential direction of God. Several scientists intellectually aligned with the Intelligent Design theory of origins have written in defense of directed panspermia as part of Godâ€™s grand design of the universe and for life within it.

This explore explores these topics and nuances, providing an academic overview of the idea of panspermia.
Country USA
Manufacturer BlindSpot Press
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2016-08-04
Format Kindle eBook

Country	USA
Manufacturer	BlindSpot Press
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2016-08-04
Format	Kindle eBook

Panspermia: What It Is and Why It Matters: An Introductory Essay

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