when people will look back on this age of superstition and shake their heads in disbelief. Gillian knows I think that; it’s not meantas anything personal against her or people who share her beliefs. For what it’s worth, I think Jesus was a genuine historical figure who had a lot of good things to say about how people should live their lives, and you can quite justifiably celebrate his birth and his life, without resorting to the supernatural. And personally, I’m happy to be part of that.”
“And what will you do if you have children?” Marie said. “How will you raise them, and teach them what to believe?”
“We’re going to let them decide for themselves,” Max said. “It’s the only fair way. It’s not going to be straightforward, but we’ve agreed to raise any children by example, and the fact that people who think different things can still get on is one of the examples we hope to set.”
It was good to be able to think in those terms again. Many people had expressed surprise that two people with such differing views of the world could work so well together; many other couples got on fine despite such glaring differences, and the fact that he and Gillian did too was probably one of their greatest strengths. Now that the threats were no longer a constant feature of his life, now that they weren’t preying on his mind and tainting the relationship he had with Gillian, it was like being back to the way they had always been.
Which made him wonder why Victor had chosen this lame “age-of-the-universe” party game to spring on them, almost calculated to prompt this very discussion. There was something of the manipulator about Victor, despite the charming exterior. He also found himself wondering how Gillian and Safi would get on in future. There was certainly no hostility, but maybe they were just too different for anything more to develop.
“So where did the first life forms come from?” Tess said suddenly. “I mean, we all know about evolution, and survival of the fittest, but what got it started? Can anyone answer that yet?”
She’d been silent for almost the whole discussion, but Max could tell she’d been taking in every word. And now she’d comeout with one of the biggest questions there was.
“That’s a tough one,” he said. “In fact I’ve got some friends back in L.A. who are trying to find the answer even as we speak. It wouldn’t have been a plant or animal as we’d understand it, more like a primitive single cell, filled with a few molecules that could copy themselves if they were surrounded by the right chemicals. And it probably appeared in the sea, that’s the most likely place for it. Once evolution took over, the rest was history.”
“Yes, but you haven’t answered the question. What made it appear in the first place?”
“It just appeared on its own. The sea already had the right chemicals to form it, and once you added sunlight and lightning strikes all sorts of substances would appear and disappear at random; they’re still doing it now. One day the right arrangement appeared, and that was it.”
“That doesn’t sound very likely to me.”
“Well, it isn’t. In fact it’s probably the single most unlikely thing that’s ever happened on this planet. But we’re talking about a whole ocean’s worth of chemicals here, with billions of years’ worth of chances — and it only had to happen once.”
“But that one time it did happen, the Earth had only just been formed, right? You said it yourself when you were answering Victor’s question. It happened almost as soon as the conditions were right, not billions of years later. How likely is
that?
How does the ‘Karman-Lowrie’ number explain
that
away?”
Max looked at her, suddenly realising that she’d known the answers all along, and was leading him on just to see how he’d respond.
“The K-L number is certainly something to bear in mind,” Max said. “But it’s not the final answer. We know
“And what will you do if you have children?” Marie said. “How will you raise them, and teach them what to believe?”
“We’re going to let them decide for themselves,” Max said. “It’s the only fair way. It’s not going to be straightforward, but we’ve agreed to raise any children by example, and the fact that people who think different things can still get on is one of the examples we hope to set.”
It was good to be able to think in those terms again. Many people had expressed surprise that two people with such differing views of the world could work so well together; many other couples got on fine despite such glaring differences, and the fact that he and Gillian did too was probably one of their greatest strengths. Now that the threats were no longer a constant feature of his life, now that they weren’t preying on his mind and tainting the relationship he had with Gillian, it was like being back to the way they had always been.
Which made him wonder why Victor had chosen this lame “age-of-the-universe” party game to spring on them, almost calculated to prompt this very discussion. There was something of the manipulator about Victor, despite the charming exterior. He also found himself wondering how Gillian and Safi would get on in future. There was certainly no hostility, but maybe they were just too different for anything more to develop.
“So where did the first life forms come from?” Tess said suddenly. “I mean, we all know about evolution, and survival of the fittest, but what got it started? Can anyone answer that yet?”
She’d been silent for almost the whole discussion, but Max could tell she’d been taking in every word. And now she’d comeout with one of the biggest questions there was.
“That’s a tough one,” he said. “In fact I’ve got some friends back in L.A. who are trying to find the answer even as we speak. It wouldn’t have been a plant or animal as we’d understand it, more like a primitive single cell, filled with a few molecules that could copy themselves if they were surrounded by the right chemicals. And it probably appeared in the sea, that’s the most likely place for it. Once evolution took over, the rest was history.”
“Yes, but you haven’t answered the question. What made it appear in the first place?”
“It just appeared on its own. The sea already had the right chemicals to form it, and once you added sunlight and lightning strikes all sorts of substances would appear and disappear at random; they’re still doing it now. One day the right arrangement appeared, and that was it.”
“That doesn’t sound very likely to me.”
“Well, it isn’t. In fact it’s probably the single most unlikely thing that’s ever happened on this planet. But we’re talking about a whole ocean’s worth of chemicals here, with billions of years’ worth of chances — and it only had to happen once.”
“But that one time it did happen, the Earth had only just been formed, right? You said it yourself when you were answering Victor’s question. It happened almost as soon as the conditions were right, not billions of years later. How likely is
that?
How does the ‘Karman-Lowrie’ number explain
that
away?”
Max looked at her, suddenly realising that she’d known the answers all along, and was leading him on just to see how he’d respond.
“The K-L number is certainly something to bear in mind,” Max said. “But it’s not the final answer. We know
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