In the womb of Mother Gaia

What other possible way we could take at the origins and development of life on planet Earth than continuing on the well-trodden intellectual path of 19th century scientific heritage configuring and fine tuning even more accurately defined evolutionary environments that would logically produce the lucky mutants some of us think we people are?

Instead of studying Cambrian life, its origins and evolution only from the point of view of evolutionary biology let us assume another platform of research.

Scientists in the womb
Let us imagine that a group of very small scientists can enter wombs of women during pregnancy. Like the people in Platon's famous cave these scientists are not aware of the wombs nor about other aspects in the broader context. They think that they have been given everything needed for scientific explanation in what they are able to examine. This is their given world for studying the evolution of human fetus and they are quite satisfied with it.

In order for our scientists to get a better comparative picture of the processes they have access to the wombs of several women at different times of their pregnancy but only to the wombs.

What would you see, Dr Matthew?

Our brilliant womb scientists would soon recognize by comparing their observations that there is a timeline in the evolution of the fetus. They can create an accurate timed history for the various forms life takes as the cells mutate, organisms grow in complexity, life takes different shapes already telling about the future ear, nose, hands and at some point about the sex of the future being. The mapping would start at the point of conception, or already before it, and be completed after nine months when a lovely little baby boy or girl has evolved from the primitive early life forms.

The earliest life forms would be just two structured special purpose cells that exist for some reason. One of them is an external one that enters the system from outer space. It has a tall tail that is clearly made for a purpose - it enables the cell to swim inside the woman and is lost as unnecessary when this foreign swimming cell penetrates into a single egg cell. Immediately at the entrance the cell blogs the entry of all other sperm cells wanting to come in. The egg cell itself is located in a very fertile environment inside the uterus of the woman.

And so the scientists in the wombs study all the details of the evolution of life in female wombs with all the means available for them in modern scientific world.


The big question
But the big questions evade them. Yes there is "evolution", stages in the history of life, and the transformation of life forms from tiny cells into a lovely little human being is quite remarkable. Almost as if there is some purpose, greater plan, intelligence buried in the chromosomes and DNA of the first cells that guide the processes in cooperation with the womb environment.

Some of our womb scientists may be satisfied with the detailed anatomical, chemical, physiological, historical description of the evolution of the fetus from the impregnated egg cell into a complete human being.

They may even laugh and mock other womb scientists or people examining the evidence who say that "it is great what you have discovered, Dr Matthew, but is that all there is?"

Is the entire person there on the parts spread on the pathologists table?

What if we are actually in the womb of mother Gaia.

As God of Israel said "let the earth bring forth " living things

And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called He Seas; and God saw that it was good.
And God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth"; and it was so.
Genesis 1:10-11