Did life come to earth from another planet? But what explains the origins of alien life – what accounts for the birth of life in the universe? Are planetary environments enough to explain its emergence? Can its evolution explain its existence? Does life belong to the physical fabric of the universe, or does the universe ‘come to life’ because of possibilities in addition? And what makes us believe that possibility becomes explicable by observing its incidence? Indeed, putting all the theories to one side, do we actually know where the answers might come from – or lead us?
There are alternative ways to look at the evidence. Perhaps life manifests properties that differ from its non-living causes, which ‘become alive’; or the causes are inherently prepotent, though ‘in the event’ the ‘possibility of life’ depends upon the environmental triggers. Then does it mean that life is a latent property of its preconditions in the physical world – that like a Pinocchio, it is already in situ, just waiting to be carved out? And what makes us believe that life would be explicable if only we could observe the transition from the non-living to the living?
Mike Laidler
Philosophy Alive 