My teachers couldn\u2019t provide any logical reasons these\nthings happened.\u00a0 They only said that\nJehovah was behind it all.\u00a0 Jehovah is\nvery wise and loves us with all His heart.\u00a0\nWhatever His reasons, they are good ones that we must never\nquestion.\u00a0 .<\/p>\n
If we accept this version of \u2018how we world got where we are\nnow,\u2019 we are led to believe that there is a very specific way that we are supposed\nto <\/i>be acting.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
The world works as it does because that is the way it is supposed\nto work.\u00a0 <\/i>We, the children of\nJehovah, are not supposed to question <\/i>the\nrealities of the world around us.\u00a0 War\nis NOT a problem<\/i> that we should be trying to solve.<\/i>\u00a0 It is a deliberate and integral aspect of\nlife on Earth, as envisioned by Jehovah.\u00a0\nIf we accept this version of history, we have a certain very clear\nreason to exist:\u00a0 We are to work hard,\npay taxes, and support leaders who help us organize our nations to be better at\nwar.\u00a0 We are to contribute to the\n\u2018system\u2019 until we are dead, without question or hesitation.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
Cynical people may feel that this explanation is not a\nlegitimate attempt to figure out how the world came to work as it does.\u00a0 They may think it is a tool, one of many\ntools that people have created over our (actual) history to manipulate people\nwho are gullible.\u00a0 It is not designed to\nprovide objective information about how the world came to work as it does so\nthat we, the people of the world, can work together with others in our species\nto solve problems and move our race toward a better future.\u00a0 It was designed to make us accept a role for\nourselves as servants of the masters and cogs in a machine that benefits a tiny\nminority at the expense of the great majority. <\/span><\/p>\n Science can tell us a lot about history.\u00a0 Often, our prejudices tell us to reject science,\nbecause it doesn\u2019t conform to the things we want to believe.\u00a0 We want to believe that we (humans) are the\ncenter of everything.\u00a0 We are important.\u00a0 The universe revolves around us.\u00a0 When we look at \u2018the beginning of the\nuniverse\u2019 we often think that it corresponds, more or less, with the beginning\nof humans.\u00a0 (The creation story claims\nthat human history began 6 days after the universe was created.)\u00a0\u00a0 Early analysis to determine the age of the\nuniverse involved reconstructing geologies in religious books.\u00a0 Go back to the first human, then six days\nmore, and you are at the beginning of everything.\u00a0 Using this method, researchers came up with the Ussher\u2013Lightfoot\nchronology which held that the first humans were created on October 16, 4004BC;\nthe universe was created 6 days earlier on October 22, 4004 BC.<\/p>\n The 19th century saw a significant shift in thinking about\nthe age of the the universe. Geological evidence, such as the slow erosion of\nmountains and the accumulation of sediments, suggested a much older Earth.\nScientists like Charles Lyell proposed that geological processes were gradual\nand had been operating for millions of years.<\/p>\n In the 20th century, astronomical observations began to\nprovide more concrete evidence for an ancient universe. Edwin Hubble's\ndiscovery of the expanding universe in the 1920s led to the development of the\nBig Bang theory, which posits that the universe began as a singularity and has\nbeen expanding ever since. By measuring the rate of expansion, scientists could\nestimate the age of the universe. Early estimates placed the age around 10\nbillion years.\u00a0 Later research\npinpointed the first moment of existence more closely, giving an age for the\nuniverse of 13.2 billion years.<\/p>\n We want to want to put a date on it and Hubble\u2019s theory made\nthis possible.\u00a0 Our produces make us\nwant this date to be as close to the date that humans came to exist as\npossible, because this makes us appear to be more relevant and important than\nwe would be, if we accept an earlier date.<\/p>\n In recent decades technological advancements such as the\nJames Webb Space Telescope have allowed astronomers to observe galaxies at\nincredibly distant distances. These observations have revealed that even the\nestimates built on the Big Bang Theory are far too short.\u00a0 The James Webb Space Telescope has observed\ngalaxies that appear to be fully formed and mature\u2014billions of years old\u2014just a\nfew hundred million years after the Big Bang was supposed to have\noccurred.<\/p>\n Many still cling to the Big Bang Theory, in spite of evidence\nit is wrong.\u00a0 But new theories are\nemerging to replace it.\u00a0 A few of the\nmore promising candidates are in the text box below.<\/p>\n \n 1. Steady-State Theory<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Description:<\/strong> This theory proposes that the\nuniverse has always existed and has no beginning or end. It suggests that\nmatter is continuously created to maintain the universe's density as it\nexpands.<\/p>\n Reference:<\/strong> https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Steady-state_model<\/a><\/p>\n 2. Plasma Cosmology<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Description:<\/strong> This theory suggests that the\nuniverse is primarily composed of plasma, a highly energetic state of matter.\nIt proposes that large-scale structures like galaxies and clusters of galaxies\nare formed through electromagnetic forces in plasma.<\/p>\n Reference:<\/strong> https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Plasma_cosmology<\/a><\/p>\n 3. Cyclic Universe<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Description:<\/strong> This theory suggests that the\nuniverse undergoes cycles of expansion and contraction. After reaching a\nmaximum size, the universe contracts back into a singularity, only to expand\nagain in a new Big Bang.<\/p>\n Reference:<\/strong> https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cyclic_model<\/a><\/p>\n 4. Quantum Gravity<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Description:<\/strong> This field of physics seeks to\nunify quantum mechanics and general relativity, the two fundamental theories of\nphysics. It aims to provide a deeper understanding of the universe's origin and\nevolution, potentially leading to alternative cosmological models.<\/p>\n Reference:<\/strong> https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Quantum_gravity<\/a><\/p>\n 5. Conformal Cyclic\nCosmology (CCC)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Description:<\/strong> Proposed by Roger Penrose, this\ntheory suggests that the universe will eventually become a cold, dark place\ndominated by photons. After an infinite amount of time, the universe will\nundergo a conformal transformation, effectively resetting it to a state similar\nto the Big Bang.<\/p>\n Reference:<\/strong> https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Conformal_cyclic_cosmology<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \n We have prejudices that distort the way we look at\nhistory.\u00a0 We want <\/i>to believe we\nare extremely important.\u00a0 We want <\/i>to\nthink that our time of existence is all that is important and anything outside\nof this period of time is unimportant.\nWe want <\/i>to make the \u2018unimportant\u2019 period as small as possible so\nwe can pretend it is irrelevant and nothing of any importance happened until a\nfew thousand years ago.\u00a0 This just isn\u2019t\ntrue.<\/p>\n Even if we accept the 13.2 billion year figure, and\ncompressed it into a year for the purposes of comparison, the human experience\nwould be insignificant.\u00a0 If we start the\nyear at January 1, the first members of the \u2018homo\u2019 genus (our ancient\nancestors) didn\u2019t evolve until December 31st at 11:48 PM.\u00a0 This is a mere 12 minutes before\nmidnight.\u00a0 Recorded history didn\u2019t begin\nuntil December 31st at 11:59:46 PM, a mere 14 seconds before midnight.<\/p>\n Why does this matter?<\/p>\n The human race is currently in a very dangerous\nsituation.\u00a0 We are at the very edge of\nextinction.\u00a0 We need to look at reality\nobjectively if we are to understand how to get us out of this mess.\u00a0 We will see that objective analysis shows\nthat we have very real tools we can use to help us get onto a path that leads\nto a sound, healthy, prosperous, peaceful world where we live in harmony with\nnature.\u00a0 But we can\u2019t build these kinds\nof systems on things we want to believe but that objective evidence tells us\ndid not happen.\u00a0 We will need to accept\nthings that go against our preconceptions of our own importance.\u00a0 Some of these things involve evolution and\nour very strong relationship with very violent and highly territorial apes that\nfight over territory just as humans do.\nWe will see that if we accept the science behind this relationship, we\ncan see that we can understand the forces that push use to divide into\n\u2018nations\u2019 to fight over territory.\u00a0 If\nwe understand them, we can alter them.<\/p>\n The truth is that we can only say one thing about the origin\nof the universe:\u00a0 It happened a very,\nvery long time ago, so long that the period of human existence is meaningless\nby comparison.<\/p>\n We have considerably more information about the age of the\nsolar system.<\/p>\n In December of 1998, the National Aeronautics and Space\nAdministration (NASA) hosted a seminar.\nThey brought together scientists to establish an evidence-based figure\nfor the age of the solar system and of the Earth.\u00a0 Here is the summary of findings from this seminar:<\/p>\n \n The oldest materials that formed in the Solar System are inclusions\nthat are rich in calcium and aluminum found within carbonaceous chondrite\nmeteorites.\u00a0 Abbreviated CAIs (for\nCalcium-Aluminum-rich Inclusions), these objects are thought to have been some\nof the first solids to form after the cloud of gas and dust began to heat\nup.\u00a0 CAIs have ages of 4.566 billion\nyears.\u00a0 Based on measurements of several\nisotopes, the Earth and Moon formed about 50 to 100 million years later.\u00a0 [Origin\nof the Earth and Moon<\/i>, 1998, LPI Contribution No.\u00a0 957, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston.]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \n This image of Earth straddling the limb of the Moon was captured by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera on October 12, 2015<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n The Earth formed at\nroughly the same time as the Sun and other planets. The Earth started as a\ncontracting ball of gas and began to form a hard surface crust about 4.4\nbillion years ago.<\/p>\n \n Earth formed from the same cloud of dust and gas that created\nthe Sun and other planets.\u00a0\u00a0 Reference:<\/strong>\nhttps:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/solar-system\/<\/a><\/p>\n Initially, Earth was a hot, swirling mass of gas and dust.\u00a0\u00a0 Reference:<\/strong> https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/solar-system\/<\/a><\/p>\n Over time, this gaseous material cooled and condensed,\neventually forming a solid, rocky crust.\nReference:<\/strong> https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.org\/encyclopedia\/crust\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \n Scientists have many tools they can use to help understand\nhow this took place.\u00a0 The new\nspace-based telescopes allow us to actually watch solar systems being\nformed.\u00a0 We can analyze the composition\nof the different worlds and compare them to earth.\u00a0 The Webb Telescope website\n<\/a>provides detailed images that show planets being formed.\u00a0 We have no need to resort to stories about\nbeings with magical powers to understand how planets form.\u00a0 We know how this happens.<\/p>\n When the Earth first formed, it was a gaseous mass coming\ntogether under the effect of gravity.\nThe surface of the earth was the coolest part of the planet, but it was\nstill far to hot to have solid objects in it for hundreds of millions of\nyears.\u00a0 The oldest rocks found so far\nhave been dated to 4.28 billion years old.<\/p>\n \n In 2008, researchers at McGill University discovered rocks that\nwere the oldest rocks yet recorded, dating to being.\u00a0 Researchers there estimated the age of the rocks using isotopic\ndating, which analyzes the decay of the radioactive element neodymium-142\ncontained within them.\u00a0 This technique\ncan only be used to date rocks roughly 4.1 billion years old or older; this is\nthe first time it has ever been used to date terrestrial rocks because nothing\nthis old has ever been discovered before.<\/p>\n \u201cThere have been older dates from Western Australia for isolated\nresistant mineral grains called zircons,\u201d says Carlson, \u201cbut these are the\noldest whole rocks found so far.\u201d The oldest zircon dates are 4.36 billion\nyears.\u00a0 Before this study, the oldest\ndated rocks were from a body of rock known as the Acasta Gneiss in the\nNorthwest Territories, which is 4.03 billion years old.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \nHow Did We Get Here?<\/h2>\n
Solar System Comes into Existence<\/h2>\n
Earth Comes Into Existence<\/h2>\n
![\"This](\"https:\/\/fbhd.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com\/1\/earthrise+.jpg\")
<\/a>First Rocks<\/h2>\n