From time to time, whilst looking up at the stars at night and contemplating my connection to them, I get a transcendent feeling, the closest thing to what some might call a "religious experience" that I have. I stand there realising that I can't even begin to appreciate the grand scale of things. As wonderous and amazing as I think the universe is, it must, in fact, be even more astoundingly impressive than I can imagine.
In the distant past, when our solar system was just beginning to form from clouds of dust, the ingredients that led to you and I were there.
After a vast, impossible-to-imagine period of time, the system settled into a relative equilibrium, with the various planets having coalesced into their orbits around the sun.
Somewhere along the way something happened on that third planet that allowed self-replicating entities to emerge. Our understanding of this moment remains shrouded in shadow, but many interesting ideas have been suggested including iron pyrites that might provide a matrix for amino acids to link together, radioactive beaches, and hydrothermal vents. Whatever happened here, the stage was set for our ingredients to finally start getting mixed.
3.8 billion years later, I sit here typing about how amazing and wonderful it all is.
I cannot imagine a more incredible thing than the knowledge that I am made of starstuff - that I, insignificant though I may be, am deeply connected to this vast cosmos. Not only that, but I get to have a brief glimpse at the inherent truth of that knowledge through the lens of science. I simply cannot imagine a religion that could inspire such a feeling of genuine awe.
Carl Sagan writes:
We are made of starstuff... We are a way for the cosmos to know itself.
Some reasons why evolution trumps creationism specifically
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Evo: The theory of evolution provides a single framework for understanding the rise of complex life from simple origins. One size fits all.
Creo: Each origin myth handles the core details differently, and most are mutually exclusive. Which brand do you wear, and does it really fit?
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Evo: In the ToE, all life is connected. We are all cousins.
Creo: The Creationists' "Kinds" are distinctly different groups, their only connection being that they were all deposited here fully formed by the same supreme being.
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Evo: There is enough evidence supporting the ToE that any remaining doubts have more to do with specific mechanisms than the process as a whole.
Creo: Evidence doesn't seem to exist, but also doesn't seem to be important. There generally isn't even a "process" to be understood: We were put here, and someday we'll get armageddoned or raptured off again.
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Evo: The ToE sheds light on otherwise mysterious forces, giving us one of Carl Sagan's "candles in the dark", so we can come out of the caves and quit being afraid of the moon.
Creo: Individual origin myths introduce more mysterious forces than they explain, and leave us wondering (for some perhaps just in the back of your mind) how accurate they really are. Whatever comfort we might gain from them is offset by doubt.
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Disclaimer:
As has been illustrated in other threads, abiogenesis and the ToE are distinctly separate. The comparisons above relate only to the specific nature of evolution (which posits a gradual ramp of increasing complexity from a primordial form) versus the specific nature of creationism (which posits a creation moment in which many fully formed "Kinds" were placed). So, if you are a deist like RAZD, these comparisons don't necessarily apply to you.
Edited by Briterican, : Replaced 3.5 billion with 3.8 billion.
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