Is the Earth made for us?

[Earfetish]

4.57 billion years ago, a small rocky planet was formed in an irrelevant part of the Milky Way, close to its mother star. After a couple of million years, something amazing happened. Through some process that is still quite debateable to this day but with numerous suggestions, or perhaps coming from outer space, simple life began to appear, reproducing and eating and functioning in a very basic way and doing all sorts of frankly amazing things. They copied themselves like you would copy a CD, with the occasional glitch making the quality often worse but occasionally somewhat better. The low quality organisms didn’t survive, and the higher quality ones did. After slowly improving through this simple yet elegant process, these organic organisms began to get even better at doing these simple things. These tiny molecular replicators began to become single-celled amoebas, which eventually got cell membranes and tried desperately to live and function properly. And then these simple cells spread all over the world, each generation slightly bettering their parents and breathing oxygen and photosynthesising and developing in a unique way, due to environmental pressures, and creating a rich tapestry of co-dependent lifeforms. It was a marvellous parasite, seizing as much of the Earth as it could, like an ecosystem slowly growing on bread and taking over. One day, of these species began talking in detailed speech and making friends and debating issues and painting walls, and eventually, it wondered, ‘how did I get here? Why am I experiencing life in such magnificent ways for this brief period of time? What happens after death? Surely there’s got to be something more than this?’

The Earth has many features that make it possible for life as we know it, and for sophisticated human life too. For instance, the Earth has an atmosphere and a magnetic field, which protects us from solar storms and dangerous UV light, especially the particularly harmful UV-C light and the UV-B light that causes sunburn and skin cancer, and to which our bodies are somewhat ill-prepared. It contains an atmosphere that is kept well regulated by the amount of green life on the planet and that contains nothing toxic or poisonous to us. It contains water, which we need, and oxygen, that we also need. The temperature is just right, the air pressure is just right, and the terrain is just right, although perhaps there’s too much salt-water. The food is lovely and nourishing. Homo Sapiens are the most advanced species we have ever come across, and they have conquered the world entirely, with every resource and element at our will, like some benevolent creator bestowed it upon us for our joy and benefit. It’s easy to see why one might think that the Earth was made for us, and also rather comforting. It fits in with our views on our place on Earth and our rights over other species, and goes hand in hand with a religious perspective on the world, which some people find essential.

The late Douglas Adams once brilliantly compared the Earth to a dent in the road and Mankind to a puddle dwelling in it, in perhaps the perfect analogy.

“Imagine a puddle waking up one morning and thinking, ‘this is an interesting world I find myself in, an interesting hole I find myself in, fits me rather neatly, doesn't it? In fact it fits me staggeringly well, must have been made to have me in it!' This is such a powerful idea that as the sun rises in the sky and the air heats up and as, gradually, the puddle gets smaller and smaller, it's still frantically hanging on to the notion that everything's going to be alright, because this world was meant to have him in it, was built to have him in it; so the moment he disappears catches him rather by surprise. I think this may be something we need to be on the watch out for.”

The similarities between life on Earth and the puddle are numerous. Mankind is very Earth-centric and it is often said that Earth has the perfect qualities for life, ie a good amount of sunlight, a moderate temperature, and liquid water; however, this is just life as we know it. Hydrothermal vents have a large amount of life forms and biological diversity compared to the rest of the deep sea, for instance, and the qualities of the life down there are vastly different compared to those here on the land; that life thrives in such a harsh environment was quite a surprise for scientists on discovery and it is now proposed that life originated there and evolved to different locations. Alien life may well find water toxic and require temperatures far exceeding what we’re used to on Earth; we are only familiar with the evolution that has occurred on Earth using Earth’s resources, and if early life could form on a planet with a completely different terrain and climate then it is feasible that such life would evolve too.

The basic tenants of evolution dictate that we were made for the planet; principles such as adaptation and slow progression tell us that it was purely through good chance and it being useful that we’re intelligent and technologically advancing - life was here and adapted to the environment, progressing slowly and eventually becoming us. If the Earth was made for us, the concept of evolution would be turned on its head, with God pre-planning evolution and that every mutations, rather than being random, was very specifically chosen for certain traits, and with God giving evolution a ‘helping hand’. However, the fossil records would dispute this; extinct sub-species like Neanderthal man indicate concepts such as survival of the fittest rather than anything divinely inspired. The evolution of Man is not that much different to the evolution of many other animals, the only notable thing is what we have done with the powers evolution gave us, and there are many, many ‘dead ends’ and mass species wipeouts. But the puddle is always refilled, if life remains.

Also, to think the Earth was made specifically for Mankind assumes Mankind’s biological superiority. We may view goats or bears as somewhat inferior, but just because they don’t speak doesn’t mean that it’s not just as likely the Earth was made for them. Mankind might have quite a bad deal, or it might be a problem for the Earth that will eventually have to die out, and if the Earth was created for a reason, it could just as easily be for the benefit of a lesser lifeform. Flies, for instance, have an amazing time on Earth, and the Earth seems particularly well suited to the successful life of a bacteria.

If the planet was made for us, then there wouldn’t be a series of extinctions; Earth could just have easily been made for the dinosaurs but they got wiped out. It is also very likely that at some point mankind will get wiped out, as Douglas Adams stated, which would not make sense if the planet was made for us. Indeed, if we avoid going extinct through a runaway greenhouse effect or all-out nuclear war, a large meteorite will inevitably hit our planet at some point. And if it doesn’t, the core of Earth will freeze, the Sun will explode, or some other catastrophic tragedy will spell the end for the Human race as we know it. We are very much a puddle filling an suitable space, mankind very much the blink of an eye that is life.

The sheer beauty of nature is proof enough for some people that the Earth was created for us. It is equally understandable, however, that we view the Earth as beautiful simply because that’s how we understand beauty – beauty is subjective and one’s opinions on what is beautiful is largely based on environment. For instance, if intelligent life on other planets resembled the slug, and the scenery was largely barren desert and magma pools with the odd oasis of life, then it would be expected for both planets to have a very different view on what was considered beautiful.

[Earfetish]

If God created the universe for the Earth, He was very careful to make sure it looked like He didn’t. The universe is fantastically large; there are countless galaxies, each containing countless planets and probably a lot of Earth-like planets too, if it’s true that life can only evolve with Earth-like conditions. Indeed, an Earth-like planet, Gliese 581c, was discovered recently a mere 20 light-years away from Earth, prompting bookmakers to slash their odds on the chances of us encountering extra-terrestrial life. It is purely because of the unimaginable size of the universe that I feel that mankind and all terrestrial life is a puddle that happens to have settled and evolved to fit the shape of the hole it is in. Alien life might not require water and oxygen and a moderate climate at all, as it has grown up in a different hole and evolved to suit different conditions. That somewhere in the vastness of space and time an intelligent species happened to exist seems to me quite likely, and that in all this emptiness I happen to be very lucky to be a member of that species. The main purpose of the universe, if a physicist were to state that the universe appears to have a purpose, would be the creation and feeding of black holes, which the universe seems to do exceptionally well. Planets containing life seems to be a mere accident borne out of statistical probability. If God had created the universe for the purposes of life existing, He wasted an awful lot of space; I would create a universe with every planet teeming with intelligent life if that was my goal. Theologians would however have many counter arguments, such as that God works in mysterious ways and He doesn’t like to make Himself obvious, however that ignores the fact that life isn’t really that unlikely to occur considering the size of the universe and bringing God into the equation is unnecessary.

If time has existed for infinity or will exist for infinity, it is quite understandable how, over the course of infinity, a planet existed and evolution happened, as there would be plenty of opportunity. In fact, introducing a concept like infinity makes the fact that you live seem rather likely, despite its apparent statistical unlikeliness.

The Earth, however, could quite easily be made for us, considering that the only thing anyone is certain of is that they exist in this instance. There are countless hypotheses for the origin of the universe and existence and reality, some of which would involve the world being made for us, although they all involve presumptions for which there is no evidence.

The Earth, for instance, as well as the whole universe, would indeed be made for us if this reality we experience were a simulation, like in the film ‘the Matrix’. The statistical probability of a planet containing life would be irrelevant as the whole universe would be a false reality and would have been created for us, perhaps by us. Indeed, the universe is somewhat ‘fine-tuned’ with some mathematical constants to allow for the existence of gravity and stars and complex atoms, it could well be that these were put in my a computer that is running a game our minds live in. This does not necessarily have to be sinister; we could be a vastly superior race with stunning technology, we could have already lived brilliant lives and we run ourselves as a simulation by means of ensuring an afterlife; it need not be the enslavement of Mankind. Life may be a connecting sequence of consciousnesses in a series of different simulations, as different conscious entities, indeed there could be one universe running simulations of countless universes and God may be a master of technology, or there may only be one single consciousness in this simulation, running it countless times simultaneously, with every conscious being on this planet or in the universe having the same ‘soul’. In such a situation you could say that the Earth is made for you, and that you are everything. In my mind all of these explanations are equally as valid as a theological one.

Furthermore, if the Earth does exist on a computer, then the origins of reality are beyond our comprehension. We cannot be sure, for instance, whether our bodies exist on a planet in a universe the way we perceive it – the world may be flat and endless, we may exist in a computerised or digital format or as energy, indeed in a computer world we may all be mere physical projections of our digital selves living in a world of imagined objects and imagined company; we could be the only conscious entity on the planet, similar to the film ‘The Truman Show,’ although instead of actors everyone is imagined. There are many explanations for life and Earth that illustrate that the only person you know is real is you, the only thing you know that’s true is that you exist in some form, and everything else is just an interpretation, although there are ethical and moral complications. So, if the Earth is made for you and nobody else is real but a mere prewritten computer programme, then any global change is out of your control, the computer programme has already got future events and catastrophes written into it, and therefore there is such a thing as fate.

The Earth would be made specifically for us but there does not have to be any intention by the creator for us to enjoy it.

It could be that the entire universe is just a brief five-minute daydream of an unfathomable being in another dimension, and will disappear the moment it stops thinking about it. Every memory of every individual is interwoven so that the world appears to make sense, but that’s just because that’s how the being imagines the universe. It might not even be thinking about the Earth in particular but the universe as a whole, and therefore we would still be made for the Earth.

However, this is sheer speculation and there is no evidence or physical support for any of these hypotheses. It is because I fail to see why not to treat these potential answers for the origin of life and our place in the universe with as much credence as I do theological answers for the origin of life that I do not believe in God and believe that the Earth happened to be a planet life formed and evolved on and I happen to be an intelligent species. The theory of evolution dictates that, due to the inevitability of the evolution of replicating and mutating life forms, the Earth gradually sculpted us through environmental pressures. We, and all other life forms, simply exist because we can; life fell into a hole and, like a puddle of water, found itself a comfortable position. The hole was not made for us, despite how much it might seem like it, and such a mindset ignores the fact that we might not be in this hole for very long.

[sk8erb0y0880]

the earth is not made for us its made for everything that lives in it even the earth like, dirt, water, animals, bactiria we are the dumpster of the universe

[Earfetish]

I wrote this for a 'The Universe as an Art' essay and got a high mark in it. I didn't write it for you cunts.

[dELtaluca]

nice choice of quote/and associate analogy there earfetish, i love the hitchikers guide :P

[Jesse-Ray]

Ha what an awseome read, this is one of the greatest things I've ever read it kept making me think and changed my emotions. Ha we are such a freak, I find the greatest coincidence is the electromagnetic merging of evolved atoms to form just the basis for a single celled organism. That in itself, then to evolve into a cell, then into multicellular organisms then on and on into the freak occourance is insane, but then again maybe it isn't. The universe may in fact be infinite in which case there is a 1 in 1 chance of it occouring. We are all part of something so so rare in the universe however, in this location of the universe after we're gone something like this wont happen for a scale of the most ridiculous magnitude.

[Halicarnassus]

Ya, I stopped reading at the end of the first post because I'm an uneducated boob, but awesome read man, I enjoyed it.

[Joe]

At 5/28/07 02:39 PM, Earfetish wrote: The hole was not made for us, despite how much it might seem like it, and such a mindset ignores the fact that we might not be in this hole for very long.

Well, I have heard from reliable sources that this land was made for you and me. So I'll have to disagree with you there.

[Sirockalot]

I doubt that the earth was made for something that would eventually destroy it.

[ChaDMcBaDD]

im pretty sure reality isnt "the matrix", im pretty sure our world as we know it isnt being dreamed by an alien, and im damn sure life just didnt "poof" out of nowhere from different atoms.

God ftw.

[Twerpo]

That's a serious mindfuck there.

It's a great essay and well deserving of an A. I'm glad you shared it with us, it's very insightful and interesting.

Personally, I hope we never find out how existence came to be. Imagine what would come about if we figured out how to make mini-existences like in Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. We ourselves might be gods to a smaller society. For some reason, I think that once we become all knowing, we will lose what makes us human, the ability to think and ponder unknown questions.

[SardonicSamurai]

I'm agnostic, so both views seem to be wonderful. I love some of the things you've posted, because a lot of the things I agree with.

I'm not sure if the Earth would be made "just for us" however.

For the most part, the human race ONLY inhabits some parts of the world due to its own manufactured technologies. We've learned to adapt to a planet that, at times, can be quite fierce. The puddle in the hole could easily think that the hole was made just for it, but we've had to work and change the world itself to make it better fitting for ourselves (and even worse sometimes for other life)

Anyway, nice postings ^__^

[Earfetish]

Thanks for all your comments guys, glad you liked my essay.

[wwwyzzerdd]

At 5/28/07 02:47 PM, Earfetish wrote: I wrote this for a 'The Universe as an Art' essay and got a high mark in it. I didn't write it for you cunts.

</life>

[ADHD1134]

At 5/28/07 03:17 PM, ChaDMcBaDD wrote: im pretty sure reality isnt "the matrix", im pretty sure our world as we know it isnt being dreamed by an alien, and im damn sure life just didnt "poof" out of nowhere from different atoms.

God ftw.

then you are ignorent

nice essay....most people think im crazy when I describe that kind of stuff to them. you did it in a "scientific" way.

[Doom-Fan]

At 5/28/07 02:47 PM, Earfetish wrote: I wrote this for a 'The Universe as an Art' essay and got a high mark in it. I didn't write it for you cunts.

Well then why the fuck did you post it?

[Xragon]

At 5/28/07 08:58 PM, Doom-Fan wrote:

At 5/28/07 02:47 PM, Earfetish wrote: I wrote this for a 'The Universe as an Art' essay and got a high mark in it. I didn't write it for you cunts.

Well then why the fuck did you post it?

That's a good fucking question... seriously if you didn't want our opinion stop spamming our forum with this shit.

[Earfetish]

At 5/28/07 08:59 PM, Xragon wrote:

At 5/28/07 08:58 PM, Doom-Fan wrote:

At 5/28/07 02:47 PM, Earfetish wrote: I wrote this for a 'The Universe as an Art' essay and got a high mark in it. I didn't write it for you cunts.

Well then why the fuck did you post it?

That's a good fucking question... seriously if you didn't want our opinion stop spamming our forum with this shit.

Fuck you both; I was just pre-empting the 'why did you post this' argument.

[Memorize]

I'd have given it an F based on it having a hint of hippy in it.

[physicsman09]

awsome man,

kinda reminds me of Carl Sagan

[StarF68]

Shit, I hate thinking about stuff like that because it scares the shit out of me. Now I feel like my life could just end at any given moment, even though I'd never know it.

I also love reading about that kind of stuff though because it is very interesting. Awsome essay, I really enjoyed it, despite the fact that some parts are going to make me scared of dying for the next hour or so. :O

I'm pretty sure I've thought about all or most of these theories before, but never really in depth, which is what made this topic interesting to read.

At 5/28/07 03:22 PM, Twerpo wrote: Personally, I hope we never find out how existence came to be. For some reason, I think that once we become all knowing, we will lose what makes us human, the ability to think and ponder unknown questions.

I agree. The meaning of life is to try to figure out the meaning of life, or to wonder why. Hah.

It would suck to know though, maybe. It's like... Once we know, then what? If we find out how we got here it's not like it would do anything, unless it was somehow difinitive proof. People would just disagree. If there's a god and it just came down and started talking about how it created the universe... Even if it floated from the sky, and everything you'd imagine a god to be, people who didn't believe in god probably still wouldn't believe. They'd just assumed they'd went insane.

And if we knew the meaning of life, then what would we do? Just go on with our lives anyways I suppose.

[HandsomePete]

Do you REALLY expect me to read all of that? And yes, of course the Earth was made for us by Jesus out of legos. Jerry Falwell told me so.

[ThomasKemper]

read the book "ishmael". same premise, different wording. oh, and it has a gorilla in it.

[Russ3ll]

Did you write that all? If so? Good job!

[squidly]

I didn't read that but the earth was made for us.

[Earfetish]

At 5/28/07 03:17 PM, ChaDMcBaDD wrote: im pretty sure reality isnt "the matrix", im pretty sure our world as we know it isnt being dreamed by an alien, and im damn sure life just didnt "poof" out of nowhere from different atoms.

God ftw.

Life never 'poofed' out of anything; there are plenty of logical and well-studied possibilities for the origin of life (abiogenesis), life 'poofing' out of nowhere is not what I said at all. You seem to have life, which is a very small part of the universe, confused with the universe.

[Final-Sam]

At 5/28/07 02:47 PM, Earfetish wrote: I wrote this for a 'The Universe as an Art' essay and got a high mark in it. I didn't write it for you cunts.

Well then why the fuck did you post it?

That's a good fucking question... seriously if you didn't want our opinion stop spamming our forum with this shit.

You ave no idea who you are pissing off do you?

[iateamexican]

At 5/28/07 10:04 PM, squidly wrote: I didn't read that but the earth was made for us.

Then your a lazy bastard >=(

[HeartbreakHoldout]

I agree with all your points there. That's basically my philosophy, except less well structured than yours, and more focused on me believing in God.

[N-Antichrist]

I would read this, but I expect the sheer awesomeness of truth shall make my mind explode.