Genesis 1:1
"Many of our ancestors worshipped the sun. Denton agrees with Carl Sagan, who said that “they were far from foolish”. They built many monuments to line up with the movement of the sun. This included Stonehenge, the Sphinx, some structures at Angkor Wat, and even whole cities such as Teotihuacan.
Today, we don’t worship or build monuments to the sun.
Nonetheless, we’re still often struck by a sunrise or sunset.
However, this underestimates just how special our ‘light’ circumstances are. As Denton explains:
He mentions that the sun has just the right properties for photosynthesis and high-acuity vision; Denton explains the significance:
"Many of our ancestors worshipped the sun. Denton agrees with Carl Sagan, who said that “they were far from foolish”. They built many monuments to line up with the movement of the sun. This included Stonehenge, the Sphinx, some structures at Angkor Wat, and even whole cities such as Teotihuacan.
Today, we don’t worship or build monuments to the sun.
And the eerie twilight of a solar eclipse still amazes us.
But, compared to so many of the ancients, we don’t give the sun much thought.
Denton avers that familiarity strips us of our awe. I also suspect a little bit of scientific knowledge does too. We know the sun is ‘just’ a big ball of plasma like any other star. So, while we know that without it we couldn’t live, the sun itself rarely gets much special attention.
However, this underestimates just how special our ‘light’ circumstances are. As Denton explains:
“Less widely known, however, is the existence of an extraordinary suite of coincidences in the nature of things which render the Earth’s surface a supremely fit habitat for advanced carbon-based life forms like ourselves—coincidences that are, on any consideration, ludicrously improbable.”
He mentions that the sun has just the right properties for photosynthesis and high-acuity vision; Denton explains the significance:
“… these are elements of natural fitness exclusively for our type of life—for beings possessing the gift of sight, breathing oxygen (aerobic), and inhabiting the terrestrial surface of a planet like the Earth.”
CMI
