actually, Africans such as the Igbo people of Nigeria have always had democratic institutions. And most Africans I know are very well informed. The people who need to learn more about democracy are the Americans. They've got a long ways to go.
Another comp sci reference is the "Construct", the loading program. In Java and no doubt other languages, a method that loads a class is called a "constructor".
It's not hard to prove at all. All you need are a pile of space rocks and comets with life on them that isn't descended from life on Earth. It's easy in genetics to discern ancestry, or precedence, like they did with "Mitochondrial Eve". Quite probably, we'll find that within our lifetimes, if not, indeed, within the next few years.
Think about it: Supernovae and other planet/moon-shattering events happen all the time, let alone large collisions and impacts, that scatter rocks throughout the galaxy. We already know bacteria can survive for years in space, and for hundreds of millions of years in salt on Earth. We know bacteria live deep in the Earth's crust that don't need more than a very slow diet of chemicals to survive. We know there is a constant rain of comet debris and meteors onto our planet. So what's more likely, a long grinding selection process on Earth, or seeding from some other world(s) that went through that process in the 8 billion years prior to Earth's formation, and took root here as soon as Earth was ready?
Really, weak Panspermia is the simplest explanation of the origin of life on Earth. Strong Panspermia, that is, the Creationist argument that life couldn't begin from natural causes so had to have been seeded in the universe by God, doesn't bear discussion.
It's *possible* life began on Earth and managed to take over all niches before it could be seeded from space. I suppose one could desperately argue rocks don't go from solar system to solar system, even when impelled by supernova blast waves. But why then didn't it start first on Mars, and fall here in meteorites similar to those found in Antarctica and elsewhere, if life starts independently so easily? Mars, after all, cooled first.
See Brin and Benford's Heart of the Comet for a fascinating discussion.
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actually, Africans such as the Igbo people of Nigeria have always had democratic institutions. And most Africans I know are very well informed. The people who need to learn more about democracy are the Americans. They've got a long ways to go.
Another comp sci reference is the "Construct", the loading program. In Java and no doubt other languages, a method that loads a class is called a "constructor".
It's not hard to prove at all. All you need are a pile of space rocks and comets with life on them that isn't descended from life on Earth. It's easy in genetics to discern ancestry, or precedence, like they did with "Mitochondrial Eve". Quite probably, we'll find that within our lifetimes, if not, indeed, within the next few years. Think about it: Supernovae and other planet/moon-shattering events happen all the time, let alone large collisions and impacts, that scatter rocks throughout the galaxy. We already know bacteria can survive for years in space, and for hundreds of millions of years in salt on Earth. We know bacteria live deep in the Earth's crust that don't need more than a very slow diet of chemicals to survive. We know there is a constant rain of comet debris and meteors onto our planet. So what's more likely, a long grinding selection process on Earth, or seeding from some other world(s) that went through that process in the 8 billion years prior to Earth's formation, and took root here as soon as Earth was ready? Really, weak Panspermia is the simplest explanation of the origin of life on Earth. Strong Panspermia, that is, the Creationist argument that life couldn't begin from natural causes so had to have been seeded in the universe by God, doesn't bear discussion. It's *possible* life began on Earth and managed to take over all niches before it could be seeded from space. I suppose one could desperately argue rocks don't go from solar system to solar system, even when impelled by supernova blast waves. But why then didn't it start first on Mars, and fall here in meteorites similar to those found in Antarctica and elsewhere, if life starts independently so easily? Mars, after all, cooled first. See Brin and Benford's Heart of the Comet for a fascinating discussion.