how did life first start on earth, page-54

Hi Martis,

I enjoy your writing style and philosophical nature, but as a biological scientist I can tell you exactly what the meaning of life is. Although I'm afraid its not very exciting ....well, then again....So its simply to reproduce, that is all.....

If your species rate of birth exceeds its rate of death then it will continue and continue to adapt and evolve in its niche(s). I will point out that there are no two species in nature that occupy the same ecological niche. Darwin's finches of the Galapagos islands are a perfect example of this. So why did it take 4 billion years for humans to arrive? ....It took 4 billion years because it took 4 billion years for a species to use superior brain power and have the skill to feed this ever expanding calorific burden i.e. large brains are a very costly burden to endure when times get tough (and they always do on an expanded time scale). So we had to keep our reproductive rate above our death rate even through the toughest of climates and environments. We were able to use this "burden" to occupy many niches and control our environment. Our superior ability saw us thrive while our cousins, the other humanoids, stumbled. For many it was likely that we simply occupied those niches better than they did or adapted to the changing climates and environments.

I know its all a rather unromantic reality at first glance....But the romance comes in knowing how precious life is, how improbable your appearance is (ie one fart from a cockroach and you may not have been conceived or won the sperm race! XD).

In all likelihood... life itself is probably quite common in the universe but mostly microbial. Intelligent life that can stand the test of time (we are not doing a great job of this i.e. our unsustainable nature!) might not be so common...

BTW, I do not believe the world requires a god for an explanation, but I hold no judgement those who disagree