Understanding molecular biology without discovering the origins of life
I predict we will reach a complete understanding of molecular biology and molecular evolution, without ever discovering the origins of life.
This idea is dangerous, because it suggests a mystery that science cannot explain. Or, it may be interpreted as confirmation that life is merely the collective result of a long series of incremental steps, and that it is impossible to draw a precise distinction between life and non-life.
"The only thing of which I am sure," argued Samuel Butler in 1880, "is that the distinction between the organic and inorganic is arbitrary; that it is more coherent with our other ideas, and therefore more acceptable, to start with every molecule as a living thing, and then deduce death as the breaking up of an association or corporation, than to start with inanimate molecules and smuggle life into them. "
Every molecule a living thing? That's not even dangerous, it's wrong! But where else can you draw the line?
