Origin of Life

About the Book

The evidence suggests that the interactive system of biological Life we find on planet Earth originated here some 3.8 billion years ago. THE 5th OPTION asks the interesting (and provocative) questions that mainstream scientists ignore - such as:

1] What, exactly, is this phenomenon we call "biological life"?

2] What, exactly, is it doing here on our planet?

3] How did it get here?

This is how an engineering mentality approaches the origin-of-life issues - from the "top down". Could this intricately intelligent evolving system we call "life" really have self-generated out of random lifeless chemical elements from scratch, as mainstream science (the 2nd Option) would have us believe? Don't count on it! THE 5th OPTION explores that possibility and concludes that the odds of it happening all by itself -without outside help - are virtually zero; the system of life on our planet was designed and implanted on our planet some 3.8 billion years ago purposefully and in order to accomplish specific goals. What possible purpose could be served? THE 5th OPTION engages in the novel process of reverse engineering the system of life on our planet in order to try to understand the phenomenon. Bryant Shiller, an engineer, puts himself "in the shoes of a would-be designer of the system of life" and asks the provocative question: "What would I - the hypothetical designer of the interactive system of life on planet Earth - have had in mind to have designed this planet wide system in this particular way? After all, system designers always have choices among various design alternatives and ultimately choose those that best serve the purpose-specific "design intent". This design intent is ultimately revealed.

The author deals with these kinds of questions within his "5th Option" origin-of-life model entitled the "Rational Design Hypothesis (RDH)". The RDH homes in on the defining life-system attributes that lead unfailingly to:

1] a logical re-definition of the life phenomenon in terms of the laws of thermodynamics.

2] Life portrayed as an intelligent system based on a primary design platform (PdP) that epitomizes the cell as a product of nanotechnology.

3] the genetic code endowed with an intelligence scheme that must predate biology, and without which, biological activity cannot take place. A novel statistical analysis of the genetic code unveils its true nature as an effective non-random evolution filter.

4] the inclusion of a self-limiting feature within the life system design that has important consequences that threaten the future survival of the human species. The unexpected conclusions are nothing short of spectacular! Extraordinarily, the Rational Design Hypotheses is scientifically credible and relevant for one important reason: it is testable. Shiller defines where to find the evidence of design and how to access it.

What does the RDH model have to say about the would-be designer? What are the unexpected consequences for human survival? The RDH model deals with both of these issues and much more. The results are eye opening and alarming! You will walk away from this exercise with a totally new appreciation of the meaning of life and the part you play in it.

About the Author

Bryant Shiller earned an engineering degree from McGill University, Montreal; worked as a communications engineer prior to becoming an independent entrepreneur.

"The most important aspect of my university education was in learning how to think like an engineer and discovering that the engineering mindset can be applied to analyze virtually any set of problems - 'Origin of Life' included."

Always the perpetual student and multi-talented - his intellectually curious nature led him to consider alternatives to the generally ineffectual efforts at solving the Origin-of-Life mystery. He recognized that the "chemical soup" approach favoured by mainstream science was in trouble and became convinced that the solution to understanding the bio-life phenomenon required "out-of-the-box" thinking.