[~ot] why is programming so fun?

[Simen Kjaeraas]

Chris Wright Wrote:

> BCS wrote:
> > The chances of life happening by chance are something like that, if not 
> > worse. You could probably calculated a relative number for it with 
> > quantum physics and/or information theory and/or string theory or some 
> > such. IIRC there is a theory about how much info can be in a given volume.
> > 
> > 
> 
> I don't think anyone has come close to describing the odds of abiogenesis.

I did some fun calculations after being given a book by Jehovah's Witnesses, as I've always been of the opinion that life being created by some higher being is less probable than it occuring naturally.

Way I figured was, I get 1 cubic centimetre of the simplest, carbon-based, self-replicating molecules, on this planet of 1 trillion cubic kilometers (one cubic centimetre was chosen as some arbitrary amount that might come into being by chance). Not by any chance a big chunk, but is it enough for life to survive? Let's first see how many self-replicating molecules we can fit into my small cube - 1.6 quintillion. That ain't half bad. (Actually, I think the number was 1000 times bigger, but I don't remember the name of that number [Hexillion?], plus you can think of it as a bit of safety :p)

Now, spread that evenly across the world (258 billion square kilometers), and you get 162 such molecule for every square meter. With enough resources nearby, I'd give it a fairly good chance of survival.

-- Simen