catshark <catshark@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:<cgkgm0179fj8a7n7v9uhtrf4q7d84oidoq@4ax.com>...

On Sat, 9 Oct 2004

catshark <catshark@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:<obmbm09j23fm75jbc1lqvahb90oq4fuke7@4ax.com>...

On Thu, 7 Oct 2004 20:26:44 +0000 (UTC), John Harshman <jharshman.diespamdie@pacbell.net> wrote:

[...]

Let us suppose that aliens brought these "ready-to-replicate" cells to
earth, or that a meteor brought them to earth in their complex forms.
This idea is actually circling and considered in modern academia.

Hardly. There are a few adherents, but they are generally considered to
be nuts, just a few steps better than regular creationists.

That may be a little harsh, since Francis Crick and Leslie E. Orgel flirted
with the idea for a while back in the 80s. Crick's _Life Itself_ argued
that directed panspermia was a legitimate "theory", as well as advocating
that we should do the same. He did keep a decent level of skepticism and
never argued that evolution was imposssible or that it couldn't explain the
history of life on Earth, however.

[JP]"He [Crick] did keep a decent level of skepticism"
Correct: Crick even signed the creed known as Humanist Manifesto III.
Reference:
"Original signatories" linked to from
http://www.americanhumanist.org/3/HumandItsAspirations.htm

Why, yes he did. And? . . .

And Crick signed the creed known as Humanist Manifesto II.
Ref:
http://www.learn-usa.com/transformation_process/hum002.htm