Intelligent Agency is the best explanation for the origin of life in this universe

I want to extend my sincere appreciation to Orangatang for accepting my invitation to join me in exploring this fundamentally important question. It is my prayer that this exchange will bear fruit toward an understanding of what is really true for all who participate in and follow this debate. The question of the origin of life is directly tied in a fundamental way to our worldview. We must keep in mind that we are not only struggling toward truth here; we need to decide how to balance the very real influence of our worldview. The relationship that we establish between the truth and our worldview is critical in approaching this subject in a way that it would not be if we were exploring a metaphysically neutral question. If we value truth above our worldview, then the truth will tend to inform and shape our worldview. If, on the other hand, we value our worldview more than truth, we will be happy to embrace truth insofar as it is consistent with our worldview, but when it becomes problematic to our worldview, we will tend to treat the truth with contempt; twisting it, rationalizing against it, or ignoring it as we see fit in the service of protecting our worldview. This debate should serve only those who are willing to put truth ahead of worldview. Origin of life research is rooted in and dedicated to the primary axiom that purely natural processes are capable of producing life from non-life. If the primary axiom is wrong, the entire research program is doomed to failure. Where does the confidence for this axiom come from? Does any empirical basis exist? If my opponent is to succeed in advancing a more plausible explanation for the origin of life than intelligent agency, these are two of the many fundamental questions he must address. In the course of this debate, I will develop the case that this primary axiom is rooted in blind faith. I will also show that all empirical data point unambiguously toward the necessary role of intelligent agency - a Creator - in the origin of life. Specifically, I will defend two fundamental premises which flow logically into the conclusion that intelligent agency is the best explanation for life: 1. All organisms that can be unambiguously identified as "being alive" manifest and owe their existence to Universal Information/Prescriptive Information (both terms are defined below). 2. Intelligent Agency is the only known cause capable of producing Universal Information/Prescriptive Information. As I develop my case, con will be obliged to demonstrate that at least one of the two premises is incorrect, or that the conclusion does not follow from the premises if he is to have any chance of success. The successful defense of my case depends to no small extent on an understanding of several precisely defined terms. I devote the rest of my opening statement to defining several of these key terms: *Agency: the capacity of an agent (a person or other entity, human, or living being in general, or soul conscious in religion) to act in a world [1]. *Universal Information (UI): a symbolically encoded, abstractly represented message conveying the expected action(s) and intended purpose(s) [2]. *Prescriptive Information (PI): PI either tells us what choices to make, or is a recordation of wise choices already made...PI does far more than merely describe...(it) designs, creates, engineers, controls, and regulates. PI requires anticipation and choice with intent[3] *Symbol system: a means of recordation or communication that employs symbols to represent and encode meaning. Symbol systems allow recordation of deliberate choices and the transmission of linear digital PI. Formal symbol selection can be instantiated into physicality using physical symbol vehicles (tokens). Material symbol systems (MSS) formally assign representational meaning to physical objects[3]. *Formalism: A system of rules of thought or action typically involving symbol systems and requiring choices to be made at decision nodes, logic gates, or configurable switch settings. Formalisms employ conceptual representationalism, mathematics, and/or categorical groupings of related ideas[3]. *Code: A representation symbol system used to assign associations (e.g. via a codon table) or to convey meaningful messages (e.g., messenger molecules)[3]. *Contingency: In a past-tense context, contingency means that an event could have happened other than how it happened. In a present and future context, contingency means that events can unfold in multiple ways[3]. *Choice Contingency: freedom from determinism involving a purposeful selection from among real options. Choice contingency is exercised by agents with intent for a reason and a purpose. The goal of choice contingency is almost always some form of utility that is valued by the chooser[3]. [1] Babylon online dictionary; also Wikipedia [2] Gitt, "Without Excuse," 2011 [3] The First Gene, edited by David Abel, 2011