Organic Life, Where Does It Come From?

[afsred]

Just wondering what creates organic life? Lets stick to earth for now. If there are billions of stars (and who knows how many planets) then are we just one of a billion (trillion...???) possibilities?

 

Is organic life anything special, or is it just one of the possibilities that can occur when we mix up everything that exists in the universe and place it the right distance from a sun?

 

In other words, is there such a thing as "organic material" that is seperate from the minerals and gasses we observe, or is it those minerals and gasses that create organic life under the right conditions?

 

If we are just a random possibility, then what other possibilities are there, and what are the limits. Is it that everything is bound by the laws of physics we have been able to identify, or are there possibly billions of variations of our laws of physics, some that we cannot observe?

 

If everything is random, then anything seems to be possible, unless there are specific "true" laws that have to be adhered to, in which case only certain things would be possible.

 

We were all taught back in the day, that everything needs light to survive, but we have discovered organisms on our planet, that survive without any access to light at all. (just an example)

 

I personally believe it is impossible to know the "truth" but I am keen to know what everyone on this forum thinks?

[Moontanman]

Just wondering what creates organic life? Lets stick to earth for now. If there are billions of stars (and who knows how many planets) then are we just one of a billion (trillion...???) possibilities?

 

 

I don't think you can look at it like it was a lotto and we won, under the correct conditions life probably forms any were such conditions exist long enough.

 

Is organic life anything special, or is it just one of the possibilities that can occur when we mix up everything that exists in the universe and place it the right distance from a sun?

 

Well it's special to us but no I doubt it is anything really special in the grand scheme of things.

 

In other words, is there such a thing as "organic material" that is seperate from the minerals and gasses we observe

 

 

Yes, see organic chemistry.

 

or is it those minerals and gasses that create organic life under the right conditions?

 

Again this is also the current understanding of how organics and life came to be.

 

 

If we are just a random possibility, then what other possibilities are there, and what are the limits. Is it that everything is bound by the laws of physics we have been able to identify, or are there possibly billions of variations of our laws of physics, some that we cannot observe?

 

As I pointed out earlier we did not win the cosmic lotto, life is just chemistry, nothing mysterious or indeed likely to be rare, complex life might indeed be very rare but life is probably not rare at all. Our laws of physics pretty much guarantees our type of life will develop under the correct circumstance and there is no reason to think such circumstances are rare... as for the variations on our laws of physics, our universe would seem, if observational evidence is correct, to be the same everywhere so no other variations on the laws of physics would be expected.

 

 

If everything is random, then anything seems to be possible, unless there are specific "true" laws that have to be adhered to, in which case only certain things would be possible.

 

Evidence suggest the laws we observe are the specific "true" laws so only certain things would be expected to happen or exist.

 

We were all taught back in the day, that everything needs light to survive, but we have discovered organisms on our planet, that survive without any access to light at all. (just an example)

 

Still well within the laws of the universe as we know them. The idea that everything needs light to survive was not and is not a law of the universe no matter what may have been taught or you understood was taught to you.

 

personally believe it is impossible to know the "truth" but I am keen to know what everyone on this forum thinks?

 

Truth is a slippery thing and is often clouded by what we believe to be truth not what is actually happening. Evidence is the only way to know the truth.