On Being summary

Do you believe that an omnipotent being set the universe into motion? If so, you’re obviously not alone. In fact, most religions assert that there was an uncaused first cause – i.e., God – that created something out of nothing and conjured order from chaos.

Scientists, however, are not looking for easy answers to these complicated questions. Instead, they seek to demonstrate that the answer to “how the universe came to be” can be found just by looking at the physical world, without grasping at the supernatural.

Would you believe that the Australian High-God Karora gave birth to the first man through his armpit? Probably not. Luckily, science has several more believable accounts of how you and the life that surrounds you came into being.

In fact, the theory of evolution accurately explains how life developed. This is particularly evident in the fossil records discovered in various geographic regions and dating back to many different time periods. In more recent years, scientists have unlocked the evolutionary journey of organisms by looking directly at our DNA.

So, how exactly did you arrive on planet Earth? Were you a twinkle in your father’s eye? Did a stork carry you through the window? Not only can science answer this question with pristine clarity, it can also tell us why the process of reproduction exists in the first place.

In fact, in decoding the structure of our DNA, Francis Crick and James Watson uncovered the secret of how reproduction and trait inheritance function at the most fundamental level. It is our DNA that causes our children to resemble us, and not, say, a frog or a newt.

What happens after death? Do we move on to the afterlife? Or do we rot in the ground?

Our inability to grasp the end of our existence has led to the creation of many myths regarding a life after death. It’s quite clear, however, in examining dead and dying bodies that we’re destined for rot and decay.

Back in those dark days when our quality of life was generally miserable and the threat of death seemed to loom around every corner, the idea of an eternal afterlife for the soul was quite appealing to the adherents of many religious groups.

Today, we are closer than we’ve ever been to achieving immortality – the trick is to make sure you don’t die before we finally get it right!