Question

Most hypotheses about the origin of life on earth state that it arose from inanimate matter

Answer 1

Well, where else would it come from?

Answer 2

I'm not sure what your question is

Answer 3

There are also other theories such as panspermia that offer up the idea that life came to Earth from somewhere else in the universe.

Answer 4

Either way, it must have arisen from inanimate matter SOMEWHERE.

Answer 5

Unless it was created spontaneously by a divine being like the Flying Spaghetti Monster...

Answer 6

I think most creation stories involve at least a few living things being made out of e.g. dirt.

Answer 7

lol, anyway chrisH34, you're going to have to ask a question for us to help answer :)

Answer 8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByUod2VmBQY&feature=BFa&list=FLYRAt6JAqzD_2lAOgOs_BgQ

see around after 5 minutes of watching this video
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_generation

Answer 9

Ah right, I'd forgotten about the spontaneous generation theory (ironically, it's potentially relevant for an exam I have next week). The theory actually made a lot of sense back in the day, and evidence seemed to support it... in part because of difficulties in performing experiments, but also because scientists knew nothing of things that were very small. That means... maggots appeared to come out of nowhere because scientists could not or did not see the eggs. And when fungi appeared out of nowhere, scientists had no reason to suspect that what appeared to be clear air actually contained fungal spores.

Even when the microscope was invented and scientists realised (to their great surprise!) that there was something to see in the microscopic dimensions, it looked very much like ciliates, for example, were magically created by soaking hay in water.

When someone finally did come up with the idea that the air might be full of tiny organisms, it was mocked as completely ridiculous, and it took a lot of time and research to show that cells come from other cells... at least in the modern world ;)

But when you look back to the origin of life, there MUST have been a point at which something that isn't living became something that is. Nobody knows for sure how it happened, but it clearly DID happen or we wouldn't be here today.