TASC

We may not think often of the ancient world in our modern life, but there is a bit of mystery surrounding the early ancient civilizations – the speed with which they arose. From Egypt and Sumeria to the Olmecs of Mexico, civilizations seem to have appeared full-blown, already fully-developed!

Figure 1 - The civilization of ancient Egypt apparently emerged all at once and fully formed.

What is the reason for life, the universe, and everything else? It is a loaded philosophical question that the answer of “42” just really does not seem to answer well. It is humorous when we read the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams, to have the answer to such mysteries given in such a simplistic manner. But putting science fiction and humor aside we can give some simple answers also; they exist for very much the same reason every created thing does exist. They exist to give glory to their creator!

Figure 1 - This is the famous horsehead nebula. Actually it is a dark nebula classified as Barnard 33. From the Astrophotography Gallery of Bobby Middleton. Used by permission

There are a number of evidences that the human race is very young. For example, in an article in Science, 1 the age of the human race is is estimated to be 1,000 to 10,000 generations:

"...1000 to 10,000 generations old, which is roughly the age of the human population,..."

The phrase "intelligent design" is heard a great deal lately in the media, usually in the context of secondary school science education.

William Dembski

"Scientists: Fossils prove that birds evolved from dinosaurs" was the headline of a 1998 article in CNN News (June 24, 1998). Referring to two dinosaur fossil finds, one of which is depicted below, paleontologist Philip Currie pronounced that "[t]his shows that dinosaurs are not extinct, but are well-represented by 10,000 species of birds."

Figure 1 - Artist drawing of Juravenator, a 2 1/2 feet long juvenile carnivorous dinosaur