Kepler? I take it youve never been to
this interesting site .
Why is knowing something origins a necessity in understanding functionality?
Development tends to show this kind of thing. It allows us also to have a model for prediction of future changes. I can understand how it works now, but unless I understand how something worked then, I will not understand how to make something better.
Oh, and the comment about alien seeding?
That really doesn't throw ToE into the crapper, as you stated. So aliens seeded life at some point in the billion year ago range. How the hell does that destroy the whole changing and evolving of life from that point? It changes origin only--which is important only in undertanding how something works, and how it will work in the future.