Origins

I see 2 basic options for Origins:
1. All matter & life was created by an unknown being or beings: Intelligent Design.
2. All matter & life happened by accident, via unknown natural processes: Naturalism.

Intelligent design includes creationism, alien seeding, & any other theories that require the outside involvement of an intelligent being or beings. Naturalism says that life started by natural processes, & has evolved by other natural processes to the state we observe today.

Now, there are also hybrid theories that combine the 2. Some believe that intelligent design 'started' the process, & natural processes have evolved life to where it is today. But there are still basically these 2 possibilities of our origin. And if you could prove the naturalistic view, there would be no need for any supernatural explanation, as the naturalistic one would suffice. And of course the flip side would also be true. If you could prove the existence of a being or beings who have the power to create a universe, any natural explanations would only be the methods they used.

We try to use science & logic to decide which of these is the more likely, or what the evidence suggests, but nothing really works. Science cannot answer this. We cannot see or define any natural process that could have done it, so we are left ONLY with belief in either theory. Neither are subject to the scientific method.. they can't be repeated or observed. But neither has any provable evidence. Both theories are logically impossible. LIFE is impossible. The entire universe is impossible, yet here we are.

Of all the fundamental questions of life, Origins is the MOST BASIC of the questions, & the answer to this one affects all the others.

IF we are here by naturalism:
1. There is no purpose to our existence. 'Why' is meaningless.
2. There are no rules. Morality & law are inventions of our own minds.
3. There is no destiny. You die & cease to exist. As you were for eternity past, so you will be for eternity future.

IF we are here by Supernatural Design:
1. There might be a purpose. Why would such a Being do this?
2. There might be rules, from the Creator's perspective. Perhaps there are consequences to our words & deeds.
3. There might be life after death. We may have souls, & live beyond what we see here.

As you can see, there are completely different answers to other fundamental questions, depending on the answer to the very first one: How. Wise men & philosophers have spent millennia grappling with the latter possibility, but humanity is at no more of a consensus than when we started.

That is why a person's view of Origins is the foundation upon which their entire world view is built upon. Most people are content to have a disjointed, hodge podge of irrational thought, faulty assumptions, and wrong answers to base their philosophy of life upon. But that is because the MOST BASIC QUESTION, our origins, is unknown by any of our natural senses. We have to start with a belief, & go from there. There are other factors: mental, emotional, or spiritual that are not part of our natural sensory perceptions that figure in. But from a scientific point of view, those are not subject to scientific scrutiny, & do not count as empirical evidence.

There is no empirical answer to our origins. There are no natural laws, or scientific explanations that can even make a decent guess as to HOW we came about. We are here. But HOW we came about remains a mystery, unanswerable by human reason & senses. If there is an answer to this question, reason & science cannot answer it.

Unfortunately, the beliefs about origins are not clearly seen by many. Some believe that evolution & natural processes are proven fact, & that the naturalist theory is scientifically 'settled'. They will zealously & dogmatically assert evolution as proven scientific fact, when it is not even a valid theory. Most of our public institutions support this unscientific concept, & evolution is taught as fact in schools, national parks, nature shows, & practically all human institutions. It is the status quo of origins, but like others before, it should be scrutinized & submit to the scientific method.