Abiogenesis (Origins)

by xeno6696 , Sonoran Desert, Tuesday, August 09, 2011, 18:45 (4853 days ago) @ broken_cynic

Kent,
> I am a little confused as to what you mean by going from inorganic to organic since, in chemistry terms, organic just means that carbon is involved? It smacks of vitalism, but perhaps I misunderstand you.-Organic chemistry is a sub-branch of chemistry yes, but the interactions in just O.Chem alone are much more involved than they are in traditional inorganic chemistry. -I assume you're used to more earth chemistry, where for example, crystals are made under varying conditions of cooling and the reconfiguration of compounds. you are also clearly used to chemistry related to gases (from what you do for a living) but in all these instances, the reactions are incredibly simple. -As you (might) remember my first degree path was supposed to be biotechnology, where I studied organic and biochem in order to (hopefully) create new things. In organic chemistry, you begin to see for the first time chemical yields, where you only get x% of some output for a reaction. The only way to fully "turn over" the reaction you need to have some catalyst (enzyme) present in order to finish the job. The problem that exists for abiogenesis, is several fold. Life now---the simplest life--requires 20 amino acids in order to exist. From what we currently know, 12 of the 20 need to be somehow synthesized, but organic chemistry under the conditions currently inferred to exist result in an impossibility, precisely because certain catalysts are necessary. -For me, this doesn't necessarily open a door to a creator to me, but in this particular environment, we are 99.999% unlikely to synthesize the necessary amino acids by pure chance, meaning that the right parts just sit around in the soup for enough years that the right amino acids just fortuitously appear. I dislike faith more than I dislike Gods. That's all I'm saying. I can't believe in this chance scenario any more than I could believe in the God of Abraham. -I agree in everything that you've said in regards to how science works. -But a small question... what are the essential assumptions we make in order to use the scientific method?

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