Probability of Abiogenesis FAQs
Abiogenesis is the field of science dedicated to studying how life might have arisen for the first time on the primordial young Earth. Despite the enormous progress that has been made since the Miller-Urey experiment, abiogenesis is under constant attack from creationists, who continually claim that the origin of life by random natural processes is so unlikely as to be, for all practical purposes, impossible. Following are some articles that challenge this claim and demonstrate the fundamental misconception at the core of the creationists' arguments.
- Lies, Damned Lies, Statistics, and Probability of Abiogenesis Calculations
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How likely is it that even a single bacterium could form by chance
in the primordial sea? Not very likely, that's for sure, and creationists have been
only too happy to provide ludicrously huge numbers purporting to be the odds
against such a thing. However, even if these calculations are correct, they
are irrelevant, as modern theories of abiogenesis require nothing of the kind
to happen. This article briefly illustrates what abiogenesis really is
and shows why the creationists' probability calculations do not matter.
- Borel's Law and the Origin of Many Creationist Probability Assertions
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Creationists have asserted that a statistical principle called "Borel's Law"
mathematically demonstrates that abiogenesis is impossible. This article
explains what Borel's Law is and shows that Borel himself clearly understood
that his law was not relevant to the probability of the origin of life.