PostScript

This summary of the past is based on normal scientific principles. Three major areas for which scientists have not as yet developed a generally accepted explanation concern beginnings.

13.7 Bya is the earliest scientists can trace back the existence of the physical universe. What came before then? How did the physical universe start?

3.2 Bya is the earliest scientists find signs of life. How did life start? How did DNA, RNA, viruses and cells come to be out of purely organic chemical reactions?

65,000 years ago, humans started acting in a more self conscious way, showing more curiosity. They showed signs of being eager to explore and to act in ways that were dramatically different from pure survival, such as creating art and burying the dead. Scientists have not discerned any genetic differences from previous humans, to explain why. What caused this change, this seeming discontinuity?

Every age is faced with challenging questions. Previous generations have been able to answer many questions about what came before us, pushing the boundaries of our knowledge way back and filling in most of the pieces. We are now in a position to seriously consider these questions about ultimate beginnings.

Note:

The subject matter in this section is somewhat controversial since it mentions Religion in the context of explaining the past. As such, an editor may delete it from some editions.

At least three very different approaches have been proposed to explain these physical, biological and cultural beginnings.

Scientific Method – Many previous gaps in our knowledge of the past have been filled in through the normal scientific process of search, discovery and analysis. Scientists are already proposing various explanations for these three key events. Although none has yet been validated through observations, most scientists see no reasons why this approach should not be as useful to fill in these gaps as it has in other areas.

Changing the Question – Some people believe the wrong questions are being asked.

Science will not find answers on earth to the first two, but will have to look elsewhere. The third proposal would mark the end of scientific inquiry on that point.

Religious Answers –Throughout recorded history, humans have considered answers to these ultimate questions based on the existence of some higher plane of reality, involving one or more spiritual entities. In this approach, humans are expected to use their innate feelings for this higher reality to determine the ultimate origins of the universe, life and humans.

For the 50% of humanity who accept some version of the biblical creation story, this is phrased as God created the universe from nothing, God created life from clay and God infuses a soul in each human.

No review of the past would be complete without any reference to the many traditions that share some of these concepts.