Please tell me you don't believe in the Ancient Astronaut theory... The "1%" of our genome that different from that of the chimpanzee is due to the evolution of mankind alongside the modern apes. We and the apes of today came from what we refer as a "Common Ancestor", not us evolving from the apes you see today. I like to use a book analogy: DNA is made up for nitrogen bases held together by H-bonds in a sugar-phosphate backbone. The bases are like the letters to the book of your genome. The letters are lined up in specific ways to create what we call genes (sections that can be used to code for protein synthesis in the ribosome). These genes, that we can picture as a paragraph in the book, as well as pages of non-coding DNA, make up larger chapters called Chromosomes. The human genome, or our book has 23 chapters, with billions of letters. Our book and a chimpanzee's book is different by 4%, accounting then for around 35 million differences in letters. [source] When you put it in the perspective that humans and chimps shared a common ancestor about 5-7 million years ago, the rate of deviation between the two species has been quite slow. The idea that aliens are accountable for sensible evolution is ridiculous, especially when considering the way humans have migrated and changed since the days when our CA walked the earth. We adapt to better suit our environment, and the fertile meadows of Europe or the rainforests of South America are much different environments to the plains of Africa (our place of origin). This "1% uncharted" section of DNA doesn't make sense, because it makes it seem that the people who theorized it have no idea what actually makes up DNA. It also brings up questions like: How is "alien" DNA separate to normal DNA, when the same nitrogen bases make up all known life? If a 6th unknown base exists, which could be entirely possible, how has one not been discovered in the human genome, which has been mapped completely since 2003? Define "uncharted" DNA. I'd also like someone to explain the possibility of ghosts without breaking the Law of Conservation of Energy.
^true fax genetic mutation happens all the time, but your body repairs it at almost the same rate almost in a sense, it is the gradual decay of your genetic makeup that results in age-related death these same mutations also account for the "alien DNA" which is simply mis-transcripted DNA as a result of the "donor" DNA being mutated at the time of transcription
Audience, I came at him the same level he came at me, so why am I the one in the wrong? He's the one that loaded my profile up with insults. He was completely off-topic and the only reason he posted that link was b/c he was upset at me for saying his other thread was old news. I'm the only one who made his other thread go past one page and into 10 pages. Damn, he even titled his link 'Old News' just to be even more of a smart-ass. This has nothing to do with news and the last thread was pretty old, so why bring it back to life when most of the people in that thread are no longer here anymore? Plus my thread is different, has set questions to ask and a purpose behind discussion, including our origins outside religion. I understand he probably wanted to say much more like he did on my profile but was tact about it. I had every right to defend my thread against his irrevelant, smart-ass, and off-topic post.
My belief sides with God and the Devil. I just thought it was an interesting take. You took my Alien DNA waaaayyyy to literal. I just meant a DNA of an alien species, not of a gorilla, whale, crocodile, human, but something alien. And that all living things in the entire universe use the same DNA blah blah is just an assumption. There's no way to prove that.
issues with this post: - assumes science is an alternative to the existence of a god - no points.. at all There seem to be an awful lot of atheists who come into an argument about theism and act as if they've already 'won' it. It would be unscientific of people to agree with someone who wildly flails their opinion, and expects it to be taken on faith alone. What? Uh. The title is a bit... misleading. but - the main points - I'm at a loss for words. That's not even the questions, either.
OOOOOOOOOOOur Whole Universe Was In A Hot Dense State, Then nearly 14 billion years ago expansion started. Wait... The Earth began to cool, The autotrophs began to drool, Neanderthals developed tools, We built a wall (we built the pyramids), Math, science, history, unraveling the mysteries, That all started with the big bang! Summing up my beliefs in a song, seeing as they weren't good enough for dread... I will respect the beliefs of others though, don't force it on me or try changing my opinion though, I know that sounds douchey but it's my opinion and I'm free to believe what I want. If solid evidence exists for either, I'll read into it and formulate my own views.
Are you a robot or can you not figure it out? Post your answers and don't argue with others. You failed miserably
This. Same reason if you make a thread about stamp collecting mostly people who collect stamps or are against the practice of collecting stamps will reply and most of the world will just ignore it and have opinion like "stamp collecting if fine hobby i guess I wouldn't do it but its fine" Like how i think most people who aren't religious or anti religious think, "Religion is fine a good moral guide book and what not, I wouldn't do it but its fine as long as I'm not forced to follow any religious rules or regulations" then there is the extremest on both sides which will argue to the end of days. Me personally I don't know if there is a god, Science at the moment would indicate there isn't a god in form of a specific god like christian or other regions gods, I don't think there is a OLD long hair huge beard guy dressed in pure while robes walking around watching humans 24/7. I think there could be a super advanced alien race that created us or where just a computer program. Like hypothetically if character in sim city became self aware (sure its a primitive weird world) but he could live a life there doing stuff bound by the "laws of physics" whats to say where not living in an advanced form of like MMO like matrix? Makes more sense to me then http://imgace.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/its-magic-i-aint-gotta-explain-****.jpg
Gentlemen: remain calm and don't insult and condescend to each other, or the thread will be locked and warnings will be handed out. There's been a disturbing trend with some of you guys engaging in a lot of cat-fighting across multiple threads (and apparently each others' profiles), and it's gotta stop, one way or another. Just treat each other with respect; and even if you personally believe it to be true, stop spending so much time calling each other dumb or pointing out how much smarter you are than them. I say this from long, bitter experience: it is literally not possible to win the internet. So stop trying.
^hahaha. Maybe one or two. We don't have 1% DNA that separates us from apes. We ARE apes with approx. 1% (that you refer to, I think the actual figure depends on what exactly you are measuring) unique evolution in our genome. Chimps gorillas and orangutangs have a similar rate of divergence, in their own directions. Any given species is going to have unique elements in its genome or otherwise it wouldn't be a species. Ape is a family, not a species, and we are in that family. I believe in "god" if I get to define the term. I don't believe in any supernatural entity, I think god is a human psychological by-product, but a powerful and very interesting one. All my people-watching over the years makes me think that accounts of felt presence are genuine, but also that all of the different ways of describing it across cultures are superficial. Carl Jung has given what I think to be the most satisfactory account of this in his Archetypes. These include everything on your list, demons, angels, etc. Here it is summarized better by someone else: Spoiler As Jung taught us, myth comes from the collective unconscious and mythological figures are full-blown archetypal forms in all their power and glory. Being expressions of powerful parts of the deepest regions of the psyche, they have far more power than any thought or idea we're capable of generating consciously. So, while the Gods are indeed creations of man in a sense, we actually are more properly their creations, since the collective unconscious is older and far more powerful than any individual human consciousness. Projections from this deep realm are so powerful and primordial that we have no choice but to see them as something outside ourselves and much larger than us. The realization that Gods and Heroes come from inner space rather than outer is no more than a relocation of the powerbase. So, to say that Gods are the creation of Man is not the same as saying "people just made them up" or "invented" them. The gods welled up unsummoned from depths too powerful to be controlled. And the Bible is not, as some claim, a work of science fiction, but rather a deep exploration of that Archetypal realm, though in somewhat distorted form in order to try to make the Archetypes conform to human ideals, which they refuse to do. And Archetypal form cannot be controlled or cleaned up to make it more presentable... if it represents something primal and powerful it will appear red in claw and fang like a nightmare creature and nothing can change that. Thus perhaps the Yaveh of the Old Testament in his brimstone and fire mode, and the New Testament's attempts to re-write and censor him into a kinder gentler God. Dogma complicates things. I see no necessary connection to the psychological archetypes as described above, and the need for literal or historical accounts of myths and miracles. That's where the train car really becomes disconnected from the engine with me and religion. With that understood, myths can be useful metaphors. I think Hindu/Buddhist dogma provide very holistic life lessons when taken metaphorically rather than literally, IE karma and reincarnation. For example, when people ask me why I don't eat meat, I say because of karma. I don't literally believe in Karma, but the idea behind it is a very elegant response to the question.
Is there a God? (A) No. (B) Yes, but this God/Higher-Power/Deity has abandoned the world to fend for itself and has nothing to do with my life. (C) Yes, and this God/Higher-Power/Deity has an active role in the world and my life. (D) Not Sure (All of the above?). (E) Yes, his name is Master Chief/Spartan 117/John "Somebody". (F) The Grade you'll receive if you choose this option! I find it amazing out how little we know about our universe and even ourselves. If we look at something infinitely large, the universe (a constantly expanding system), we cannot even begin to understand its complexity. In the same token, if we analyze something infinitely small, atoms/molecules, we again can't fully understand the complexity and inner-workings of these systems. By simply looking at the complexity of life, I can't rationally believe that everything in life has come together by mere chance (I don't care how many billions of years you give it, a structured/ordered system cannot be made from (chaos) a disordered one. Third Law of Thermodynamics?) That eliminates option (A) and therefore option (D) (Plus I don't like it when people don't have an opinion). So...I'm left with (B) Yes, but this God/Higher-Power/Deity has abandoned the world to fend for itself and has nothing to do with my life; or (C) Yes, and this God/Higher-Power/Deity has an active role in the world and my life. (For those of you confused as to how I eliminated (E) and (F)...I'm sorry but there is little hope for you.) When I look at the world around me, I see a stable system. Each morning the sun rises. Each night the sun sets. Each year there are seasons, providing the earth with the nourishment it needs to support life. Each day plants produce enough oxygen to support animal life...etc. This stability tells me that this God/Higher-Power/Deity put a lot of thought/effort into creating the world/universe. Why would this God/Higher-Power/Deity take the time and energy to create a system he/she/it cares nothing about? I believe that this God created a stable, ordered universe and everything in it because He cares deeply about it, so why would He abandon something He cares so much about? Therefore, I can eliminate option (B), leaving me with option (C). I'm not trying to persuade anyone of anything. I don't wish to offend anyone of differing opinion, I'm simply expressing what I believe. I'll probably receive a lot of flack for saying it, but I believe there is a God and that He created the universe and everything in it. I believe He loves his creation and cares deeply about its well-being, and therefore takes an active role in protecting it. I believe His name is Jesus.
Look at all life before us, so fragile and unguided... waiting to be wiped away without care. It's human nature not to believe in chance, in order to meet any goal, you have to work for it. Human existence, as I strongly agree, didn't happen by chance.
I don't know, dinosaurs seemed to have their **** together.. Calling "all life before us" fragile and unguided is pretty arrogant.
Lol, are you serious? Dinosaurs lived for millions and millions of years. We have only lived for but a few thousand and we're already prepping to put man on another planet. Dinosaurs may have rough skin, claws, and teeth but it is the mind that is the most powerful tool of all. Have you witnessed a mutation with your own eyes..? has any of our modern species 'mutated' since the theory of mutation originated? Humans have mixed races and genes but we are not mutating into a whole different species. I know mutation takes hundreds of thousands of years but still... Why, b/c our bodies can be crushed with rocks and we are so small compared to the universe... Humans have pretty much made any other living species a dying breed. We may be fragile compared to anything non-living... but as I used the term to compare us to other living things... we have conquered the planet and said '**** you' to everything else. No species (that we know of and is fact) has the mind of a human. Apes are close but still do not compare to us. Nothing has. Are we vulnerable to an asteroid wiping us the **** out? Why of course! But that's not the context I used it in. Compared to other living things, we are very dominant... I mean ****, we have Chuck ****ing Norris!