In Memoriam: Lynn Margulis (Introduction)

by Balance_Maintained , U.S.A., Monday, November 28, 2011, 22:17 (4722 days ago) @ David Turell

In light of recent threads, I was tempted to take your link here and start another thread with it's own subject line, but I will leave that up to DHW. There were a few points in this article that I found REALLY interesting and thought were worth pointing out.

The certainty of death was absent at the origin of life. Unlike humans and other mammals, many organisms do not age and die. The process of programmed, inevitable death evolved only after our symbiotic microbial ancestors, some two billion years ago, became sexual individuals.

Unlike animals and plants that grow from embryos and die on schedule, all bacteria and most other microorganisms remain eternally young.

Sex began when unfavorable seasonal changes in the environment caused our protoctist predecessors to engage in attempts at cannibalism that were only partially successful. The result was a monster bearing the cells and genes of at least two individuals (as does the fertilized egg today).

There is an amazing similarity here between the process described and the Genesis account we have been discussing in the other thread. In the account, to provide the comparison:

Adam was a single individual which was not subject to death
Some form of division took place culminating in the existence of Eve who was also not subject to death.
Something was eaten that was not supposed to be
Only after this point is explicit mention of sexual relations made with subsequent offspring and the guarantee of death.

I just find the parallel striking. Any thoughts?

--
What is the purpose of living? How about, 'to reduce needless suffering. It seems to me to be a worthy purpose.