“…Beasts have a mind. Respect it. Flowers too. Look at one. Nature brought forth each petal. There is a mystery that sleeps in metal. Everything feels and has power over you…” Poet Gérard de Nerval

 

1 – Life, everywhere

We are used to a certain idea of life. We know we are alive. We know others are alive. We know animals or plants are alive. But what exactly does it mean “to be alive”? Are stars or atoms alive? What about oceans or volcanoes? Is the whole Earth alive? What makes “beings” different from “things”?

Whether it moved or not, for the ancients everything was alive. Streams, ponds, mountains, forests, all had feelings, moods, and powers. This was an intuitive but straightforward way of regarding the world.

Centuries of philosophical debate have steered us toward separating matter and living organisms. For us, the “living” has its own traits: it grows, reacts, reproduces, and evolves. Unfortunately, just when we believe we have it all well sorted, we observe that clouds grow, molecules react, crystals reproduce, and galaxies evolve. Moreover, science has verified that an idle stone, a still flower, and a bouncing deer are teeming with the same lively particles. So, we are back where we started. Our ancestors were right and Eternism confirms that life is everywhere.

We and the rest of Creation are gatherings of live Eternons. The universe is a continuum where one passes from a structure to another through subtle changes. From the simplest particle to the most sophisticated organism, we only have to climb steps of growing complexity and consciousness to embrace the whole phenomenon of life in its unrestricted meaning.

 

2 – Particles: In the Beginning…

A universe cannot generated itself. It had to be created by an outside power. This power has been given many names and faces. Eternism calls it the “Absolute,” a term that encompass all others.

Cosmologists currently place the creation of the universe between ten and twenty billion years ago. Supposedly, it occurred in a gigantic explosion called “the Big Bang.” Eternism does not support or negate this hypothesis. Eternism merely asserts that the universe we perceive, started with the materialization of Eternons basic quanta of universal energy. 

As Eternons combined their waves and fields in endless ways, extremely small and stable structures emerged: subparticles, like quarks, then particles, like protons. The process is still going on today. Nonetheless, contrary to our earthly experience, materialized Eternons remain scarce in the universe. Wave Eternons such as photons are a billion times more numerous than particle Eternons such as protons and electrons.

The emergence of elementary particles from pure energy was the initial step. The next one was the assemblage of simple structures enabling unlimited combinations. Thus appeared the most remarkable bricks for the great architecture of the universe: atoms.

The world of particles is a mysteriously knit fabric of interlaced energy and matter. Stupendous velocities, frantic agitation, and baffling relationships are typical of this realm foreign to our normal senses.

The world of atoms is a demonstration of incomparable order and organizational genius. Sophisticated simplicity and elegance of construction are revealed to us in the magnificence of the visible universe.

 

3 – Atoms: Balls and Bags

Suppose that we want to create a lot of objects all different, but only dispose of small balls all identical. Our sole option is to form groups of balls:   first, one lone ball, then a group of two, another of three, and so forth. We can create in this fashion an infinite number of different objects, but before long they will  be quite cumbersome to manipulate.

The situation is different if we have bags in which to enclose our balls. For instance, always using five balls, we can either form a bag of five, or a bag of one plus a bag of four, or a bag of two plus a bag of three. Bags give us the possibility to create three different objects where we only had one before.

In the atomic world of Eternons, balls are protons, and bags are orbiting electrons. With these two basic components, Eternons are able to assemble a wide assortment of building blocks. A bag of eleven protons, for example, is an atom of chlorine. A bag of seventeen protons, is an atom of sodium. Together, they add up to twenty-eight protons, the very number found in an atom of nickel. But, because they are in separate bags, the atom of chlorine plus the atom of sodium do not produce an atom of nickel. Instead, they form a molecule of sodium chloride that we can use to temper our food; it is table salt.

Solely according to the way they are wrapped in electrons, twenty-eight protons will be an atom of nickel or a molecule of salt. Similarly, ten protons will be a molecule of water, a molecule of methane, or an atom of neon gas.

True, atoms are more than bags and balls. Not to mention a few additional ingredients, like neutrons, which they use to create even more variety. Yet, our illustration shows the cleverness of the whole process. Although they materialize in a minute number of particles, Eternons are able to make up all the substances of the universe.

 

4 – Molecules: Clever Simplicity

Ancient alchemists dreamed of turning lead into gold. It was not a far-fetched idea. After all, the atom of gold has only three fewer protons than the atom of lead. Atoms, however, are closed associations of Eternons where membership is for life and new postulants are not admitted. Only extreme temperature and pressure can force protons to separate or to come together. This is why the true alchemists of all times are the stars.

We have some understanding of the thermonuclear reactions inside a stellar reunion of Eternons. In our Sun, nuclei of hydrogen are fused into nuclei of helium. Subsequently, helium is transmuted into carbon, carbon into oxygen, and so on, all the way until iron and heavier atoms. Atoms produced within stars are scattered in galactic clouds, condensed and scattered again, before assembling into the various Eternon structures of the universe, including our own body. We humans are entirely made from star dust.

We have identified a little over a hundred different types of atoms, or elements. The simplest is hydrogen. This gas has one proton in the nucleus. Helium, another gas, has two. Together, hydrogen and helium account for 99% of all atoms in the universe. Even more remarkable is the fact that almost every living structure, around and within us, is composed from only twelve elements: hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, sodium, magnesium, phosphorus, sulfur, chlorine, potassium, calcium, and iron. Again, clever simplicity results in astounding diversity.

To build their more complex structures, Eternons organize atoms into molecules, a  word meaning “little mass.” The life of molecules is captivating. Just as we do, they grow, experience mutual attraction, and establish social bonds. These chemical reactions make crystals grow, clouds burgeon, flowers bloom, and us being alive to witness this prodigious activity. But how did molecules first emerged on Earth to create our multifarious environment?

 

5 – Emergence: Intelligent Labor

Scientists still theorize on how and when primitive molecules started  to replicate and evolve into what we call a “living being.”

For the advocates of spontaneous generation, life simply “had to be.” Living organisms would arose naturally from nonliving material: bugs from air, maggots from garbage, etc. Philosophers like Aristotle, theologians like Thomas Aquinas, and scientists like Galileo defended this thesis. But we have since proved that in a sterile environment, not even the tiniest micro-organism ever develops. This is understandable since Eternons always build life from life.

For the advocates of panspermia, life came to Earth from space. In a typical scenario, tiny organisms escaped the gravitation of their planets. Driven by stellar winds, they traveled many light years and landed on our soil. Some even suggest that extraterrestrial beings purposely sent spaceships packed with bacteria, to colonize our young solar system. There is nothing wrong with the idea of life elsewhere in the Cosmos. Eternons have no boundaries. But why rely on hazardous import of distant beings when all the ingredients to generate organic life were right here on our planet?

For the advocates of the prebiotic soup, organic life started by “accident.” Molecules in the stormy oceans and atmosphere of the young Earth kept moving and colliding. Eventually they bonded into self-replicating structures. All further forms of life followed over billions of years. Researchers putting together water, gases, and electric sparks, have simulated in laboratories the primitive conditions on Earth. They have synthesized several chemicals encountered in living organisms. They have, however, never produced any structure remotely close to the simplest bacterium.

Actually, the universe is not an erratic construction or a game of dice. It is the fruit of the rational work of Eternons. Sure, there are trials and errors. Not all structures work perfectly or serve entirely their purpose, and many have been superseded. But in its general design the universe remains a remarkably intelligent realization.

On Earth, as we shall now see, mineral Eternons are those who opened the way to organic life and therefore to plants and animals.

 

6 – Clays: Crystalline Intelligence

In its infancy, Earth was the kingdom of mineral Eternons. Over two thousand species cohabited in a land marked by the passage not of years but of millennia. Molten volcanic lava was seeping up from the crust. Wind and water eroded the rocks into smooth pebbles, traveling sands, and muddy sediments.

Crystals were the most advanced Eternon structures. Their geometric nuggets, mazes, splinters, and sheets comprised a multitude of atoms. They would also grow, as we can easily verify today by hanging a thread over an evaporating solution of salt.

It was the Golden Age for silicon. Its crystalline molecules were building a landscape of feldspars, micas, and quartz. Some silicates, although unattractive, were exceptionally gifted at fragmenting and growing. They were the clays. Their metabolism was based on solar and geothermal energy, alluvial food, capillary circulation, and powerful electromagnetism. Their spatial lattices would store information efficiently. Clays made it easier for Eternons to test different chemical associations. Eventually, appeared complex molecules that could pack enough data to ensure survival and replication.

Some will be surprised to hear that minerals, the epitome of lifelessness, fathered our world of lively plants and animals. They should consider the minerals present in the human body. Without these indispensable vestiges of early times, one promptly dies. Then, these skeptics should pay a visit to a collection of minerals. Few productions of nature display the astounding beauty of gems. Their colors rivals those of tropical fish and birds. Their chemical compounds flourish into the most extravagant forms. Observing closely, one senses a deep and mysterious energy. No wonder why certain minerals are credited with magical and healing powers.

Genesis and several traditions proclaim that humans were made from clay. As in many other instances, Eternism supplies the rationale behind religious or mythical accounts. Indeed, we are rooted in the sediments of the primal Earth.

Where are the smart clays of the past? Owing to their fragile constitution, most of the super molecules of early life have scattered into their basic atoms. Obviously, clays have been more skilled at making fossils of organisms than of themselves. Nevertheless, a few primitive Eternon structures, still alive and well among us, establish the link between simple minerals and highly organized beings.

 

7 – Carbon: Perfect Form

Silicon is a versatile Eternon atom that easily bonds with others because of its distinct outer shell of electrons. Still today, more than a quarter of the Earth’s crust, the ground on which we stand, is composed of silicon atoms. Silicon-based structures, however, showed early their limitations. They were too simple and too regular  for the development of more advanced and more conscious structures. But another Eternon creation would allow spectacular progress: the carbon atom.

The philosopher Plato believed in the cosmic power of a few perfect geometric forms. No doubt, his Lead Eternon had infused into his mind an atomic harmony that his eyes could not see. For Plato, the most perfect of all solids was the tetrahedron, a pyramid in which the four sides are equal triangles.

Carbon is a tetrahedron. Its “hooks,” or bonds, are spaced out as the summits of a perfect pyramid. This is the most efficient and economical three-dimensional layout for joining atoms. In addition, carbon having the same ideal number of outer electrons as silicon, its atoms easily join with one another and with those of most other elements.

Carbon, the perfectly symmetrical atom, is an intriguing and mystical Eternon. It may be coal, the darkest mineral and symbol of occult energies. But it may also be diamond, the purest crystal and symbol of universal enlightenment.

Above all, on our planet, carbon is the backbone of all the great molecules of life: amino acids, proteins and nucleic acids.

 

8 – Macromolecules: Great Chefs

The ways Eternons combine simple ingredients to prepare complex life, sounds like recipes. To illustrate, let us look at the preparation of an amino acid:

To begin, get simple raw atoms: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen in good quantity, plus a pinch of sulfur.

• prepare an amino group with two atoms of hydrogen and one of nitrogen. Set aside.
• prepare an acid group with one atom of hydrogen, one of carbon, and two of oxygen. Set aside.
• for seasoning, prepare R-groups by joining some atoms of your stock. Set aside.

Now, take a clean atom of carbon, with its four empty hooks:

• on the first hook, attach an atom of hydrogen.
• on the second hook, attach the amino group.
• on the third hook, attach the acid group.
• on the fourth hook, attach the R-group

Et voila! You have obtained an amino acid, one of the most basic constituent of life on our planet. To make a different one, just change the R-group.

Eternons use no more than twenty different amino acids to assemble the proteins which constitute all the living structures we know. Proteins are long chains counting hundreds or even thousands units of amino acids. These chains are then coiled and folded to form substances as diverse as insulin, hemoglobin, hormones, enzymes, nerves, hair, skin, wool, feathers, silk, bones, muscles, and much, much more.

Living organisms, the fanciest structures created by Eternons, are not the results of random chemical interactions. In the world of molecules, just like in ours,  ingredients do not come together by themselves. Someone has to take care of the preparation. Eternons are those great chefs of the universe whose ingenuity is revealed at all stages of their activity. By the choice of carbon as the prime support. By the preference given to a  mere twelve elements out of a hundred. By the use of the same twenty amino acids among billions of other possible molecular combinations.

Yet, nowhere is intelligent design more obvious than in the two molecules we are now going to discuss.

 

9 – RNA & DNA: Smart Molecules

Eternons of sheer energy had become particles. Particles had assembled into atoms. Atoms had combined into molecules. Structures were getting increasingly complex and conscious. Eternons had to develop more efficient construction and reproduction mechanisms. They conceived the famed nucleic acids: RNA (Ribonucleic Acid) and DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid). RNA and DNA  store and transfer all the information for the growth and reproduction of every organism on Earth.

RNA and DNA are chains of nucleotides, from a few thousand to several million units long. The atoms that makes them are nothing special. They are plain hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and phosphorus. The way these atoms are assembled is no more singular. All nucleotides have the same simple configurations.  What makes DNA and RNA so special is how they store information. They do it in the order of certain molecules, named bases, which enter into their composition.

RNA for instance uses four of five bases, usually named after their first letter: A, C, G, T,and U. For instance, a strand of RNA will look like this: ACU UGG GAC AAG…, etc. Each group of three successive bases, like ACU or UGG, is a codon. A given codon indicates that a given amino acid has to be brought to a given assembly line at a given place. Thus, the very spatial shape of RNA is what defines the work to be done. It says to other molecules: “pick up this amino acid, this one, and that one; and put them together.” It is in this fashion that every minute of our life, and without our even being aware of it, billions of molecules handle billions of amino acids to build billions of proteins within our body.

DNA is similar to RNA, yet more elaborate. Not only does it store data, but it copies itself, ensuring the preservation of these data. It has evolved to represent the true essence of a living organism. DNA is made of two parallel chains of nucleotides instead of one as is RNA. The two chains form a spiral ladder. The cross-pieces, or rungs, are the A, G, C, and T bases facing each other. Due to their particular geometry, these molecules are not paired at random. A is always facing T, G is always facing C. Consequently, the two halves of the ladder are complementary rather than identical.

When DNA wants to copy itself, a number of spectacular events occur along the entire length of the ladder. First, the spiral uncoils. Then, a special protein, called an enzyme, comes and splits the ladder in the middle of the rungs. Nucleotides swarm to the site and using each half ladder as a template reconstruct two complete ladders. For every rung, they make sure that the new base is the complement of the one in place. This base-pairing rule guaranties that the two new DNA ladders will be perfect replicas of the original.

RNA and DNA have been likened to Morse code signals, to piano rolls, to magnetic tapes, to books, even to entire libraries. But RNA and DNA are far more than storehouses or copiers of symbols; they are templates for the physical organization of matter. Their straightforward construction mask an intricacy beyond our understanding. Truly, everything about these Eternon structures is mind-blowing:

• their size: the nucleus of a human cell, a few ten thousandths of an inch in diameter, contains three billion DNA base-pairs.
• their coding capacity: they encrypt the fundamental life processes of the most complex organisms.
• their universality: DNA is found in every living being, and parts of it may be transferred from one organism to another.

How can we believe that random encounters of molecules would suffice to produce such craftsmanship? How can we speak of “mindless matter” when we discover so much intelligence? As proof of the pervasive consciousness of matter, nucleic acids would be more than enough. But, as Eternism make obvious, our world offers many  more evidences of the overwhelming genius of Eternons.

 

10 – Viruses: Invaders from Inner Space

It has the appearance of the lunar module in the Apollo missions. The hexagonal capsule sits atop a cylinder surrounded by six compactly folded legs. It is approaching its objective, a large sluggish animal. Long legs are triggered open and the unit smoothly lands on the surface of the animal. Immediately, the envelope of the animal is perforated and the content of the hexagonal capsule is injected. For about half an hour, nothing happens. Then, the large animal suddenly bursts open. More than a hundred full-size replicas of the assailant pour out and start moving toward nearby victims.

This is no science fiction. It is the invasion of a E. Coli bacterium by one of the most primitive forms of organic life, a virus. Far from being a simple structure, a virus like the phage described above contains millions of atoms. Yet it is among the smallest entities that carry DNA as genetic information.

A virus is not fully equipped to reproduce. It has the necessary plans, but lacks the construction material and finds it in other organisms. Once the DNA of the virus has entered a foreign cell, it takes full command, including of the reproductive machinery. In minutes, millions of atoms are moved around and a horde of fully-grown new viruses is ready.

Not long ago, viruses were not even considered biologically alive. In fact, they are complex chemical systems that when dormant look like inert crystals. Some can remain for years, even centuries, as a white powder akin to salt. But shocks, moisture, warmth, or electromagnetism may awake these minuscule parasites and ready them to seek a hosting victim.

Viruses are fascinating Eternon structures, both quiet minerals and smart animals. But they are not alone in packing a large amount of information into a small volume. We know of even tinier structures, such as protobions, microspheres, or viroids. All are links between the primitive replicating clays and the first single-celled organisms. They help us reconstruct the lowest rungs of the ladder that Eternons have built between minerals and us.

 

11 – Protocells: Capsules of Life

From the beginning, Eternons had built organic structures within a fluid medium.  A world of solids would have been too static. A world of gases would have been too chaotic. A liquid environment was definitely the most favorable.

There was a drawback, however. Eternons were creating a growing number of complex molecular structures. To avoid unwarranted interactions, these structures needed their own local environment. The solution was to place them into separate units.

What was the look of the primal life capsules? We have a good idea thanks to present-day blue-green algae and bacteria which are improved versions of their billion year old forebears.

It all started with tiny bags, no greater than 1/25,000 of an inch, made of layers of orderly molecules. These bags were filled with water, and contained a variety of mineral and organic substances. They lacked a well-defined kernel, or nucleus, but represented a superb improvement on the free-roaming world of early amino acids, proteins, and nucleic acids. The cell was born. Eternons have been, and still are, using cells to construct all the organisms we know,  from acacias to zucchini, and from aardvarks to zebras.

Cells are to organisms what atoms are to matter: reliable, versatile, and creative building blocks. Whereas atoms bond into geometrical space frames held by chemical energy, cells unite into exuberant sculptures animated by vital forces. The deeper biologists probe into cells, the more in awe they stand. Within these miniature ecosystems, one witnesses the full magic of life as conceived by Eternons.

 

12 – Cells: Bright Microcosms

The cell and most of its individual occupants are enclosed in thin membranes. These membranes are not mere plastic wrappings but fully active parts. They can change shape, developing fingers for touching, or mouths for engulfing. Each membrane  maintains a fleet of carrier molecules trucking in and out raw materials and garbage. 

Throughout the cell, special molecules form a network of channels for the hauling of construction materials. Numerous warehouses serve to stock food and  minerals. Oblong elements serve as columns and beams for structural resistance. Others are attached like oars to the outside membrane and  propel the cell in its fluid environment.

Enzymes and hormones are molecules produced by the cell and used elsewhere in the organism. A special unit controls their quality and packaging before dispatch. This same unit handles toxic wastes, keeping them locked in secured containers to avoid contamination.

In  workshops, amino acids are bolted together to make proteins. The work is done in assembly lines invented long before Henry Ford was born. As for part management, it is more accurate than  industrialists ever dreamed of:  every component is brought to the plant for immediate assembly.

The strategic center of the cell is its bulky nucleus. It is a safe where DNA, the precious genetic material, is locked. The nucleus is at all times the center of great activity. There, RNA comes to pick up job assignments and copy instructions for the rest of the cell. In addition, the nucleus is in constant communication with the nuclei of other cells throughout the entire organism to which they belong.

A cell is a truly a microscopic universe. Its Eternon population includes planners, manufacturers, assemblers, controllers, decoders, messengers, interpreters, carriers, movers, and defenders, all organized in sheets, sacks, bubbles, tubes, rods, granules, droplets, networks, as well as a host of other molecular shapes. In its chemical plants, substances are produced in seconds that would take days for humans to synthesize. In its core,  information is preserved that would fill several thousand books. And this entire universe is but a few ten-thousandths of an inch in size.

The most startling of all is the cellular division, or mitosis, so evidently simple in its principle, and so utterly intricate in its execution. Mitosis begins with the precise duplication of billions of DNA nucleotides, continues in the coordinated movements of uncounted atoms and molecules, and culminates with the presence of two identical organisms where there was one. Imagine humans stretching and splitting in the middle to find their identical twin standing next to them. The cells does just that. And so quickly that in less than a week it could generate offspring weighing together as much as the entire Earth. 

Cells thrive well as independent structures. Bacteria, algae, fungi, and amebas are complete and self-reliant single-celled beings. Even separated from large organisms, most individual cells will stay alive, provided they receive the needed sustenance. If only because of their ancestral autonomous temperament, our cells deserve our gratitude. After all, this entity that we name “I” is trillions of them  kind enough to stick together, at least for a while.

The immensely complicated structure and behavior of the cell make evident that it is a conscious entity,  not a fortuitous juxtaposition of dumb chemicals. With such an intelligent creature, Eternons could engage into the long evolutionary process that would lead to superior organisms.

 

13 – Plants: Building Up

Eternons spent a long time to perfect the primitive cell. This work led to structures as diverse as diatoms, exquisite cages of silicate, or amebas, flowing blobs with no permanent body shape.  But the universe was fundamentally symbiotic. Particles, atoms, and molecules tended to gather in mutually beneficial structures. As energies merged, collective consciousness was rising. Eternons applied symbiosis to organic structures.

They started with colonies, loose associations wherein each cell lived almost independently. Then, they engineered strongly bonded structures wherein each cell had specific responsibilities. This authorized the formation of intricate living systems, starting with plants.

Mosses were the first creatures that Eternons conceived for life on land. These tiny plants were forced to remain close by water because they lacked tubing and pumping systems. Such equipment was introduced in ferns, which could transport water from the ground to all their cells. Ferns spread to occupy vast areas.

Plants soon mastered the absorption and use of solar Eternons through the process we call photosynthesis. Eternons then focused on reproduction. They invented pollen to carry reproductive cells over long distances, flowers to capture pollen, fruits to nurture embryos, and seeds to feed the young until germination.

These were great achievements, but the real breakthrough was using plants as building blocks for more advanced structures. Plants would be entering other structures as food. Animals would be the eaters.

 

14 – Animals: Improved Design

For hundreds of millions of years, sponges, jellyfish, coral, and sea anemones were the most elaborate animal structures. Even today, the variety of shapes and colors found in tropical reefs attests to the unbounded creativity of Eternons.

Worms lacked such elegance, but Eternons had fitted them with elaborate circulatory, digestive, and reproductive systems. In addition, an elementary brain centralized information processing. The concept was so promising that this “worm technology” was to be continuously upgraded to higher organisms.

At first, the animal kingdom looked rather squashy. Octopuses and squids had just been taken off the drawing board and put into production. Some versions reached great size, but all remained soft-bodied creatures. Snails, clams, oysters, and further mollusks, on the other hand, featured a very hard shell to house their soft organs. The next logical step was an articulated skeleton, more versatile than a rigid casing.

Some Eternons chose the external skeleton, giving birth to the most diversified group on Earth: the arthropods. Lobsters, shrimp, crabs, spiders, scorpions, and a huge variety of insects, represent three-quarters of all animal species today. Arthropods introduced notable innovations, including wings and flight. Their high reproduction rate also enabled Eternons to start experimenting with complex social behavior.

A number of Eternons, however, had opted for an alternate method to brace their constructions: putting organs around instead of inside the skeleton. Starfish and sea cucumbers paved the way for the chordates, the group to which we belong.

 

15 – Humans: Bones and Brains

Many improvements were to be incorporated into the basic chordate design. The distinctive rod-like structure evolved into the spine and its vertebras. The respiratory gill evolved into the air-breathing lung. The cartilage evolved into rigid bones.

Amphibians, such as frogs and salamanders, marked the attempt to station vertebrates on land. Still, they were transition products; they had to stay near the waters where they reproduced. Reptiles were the first truly adapted to a terrestrial environment.

Reptiles were so successful that they ruled the Earth for a long period. During the Jurassic age, however, while tyrannosaurs stomped the ground, Eternons started experimenting with mice-sized prototypes of mammals. When a cataclysm wiped out dinosaurs, Eternons made no effort to reintroduce them: they had more exciting structures to work on. They even renounced to further improve snakes, lizards, crocodiles, and tortoises.

Birds, also launched during the age of dinosaurs, were high-tech marvels. Feathers and thin-walled bones reduced weight. A super efficient metabolic system delivered sheer muscular power. Birds could almost magically escape gravitation.

But it was mammals upon which Eternons had decided to focus their attention. Mammals presented the highest potential among all living beings. It was not because internal gestation had replaced the insufficiently protected egg; nor because glands produced milk for reliably feeding the newborn; nor because an ingenious thermostatic system regulated body temperature; nor because of hundreds of similar wonders. It was because, in mammals, Eternons had given emphasis to the brain and to its software: in other words, to intelligence.

From now on, Eternons would privilege the “Mammalian Research & Development Program,” and the progress would be amazingly rapid. It had taken billions of years of arduous work to come to this point. In a few million years, Eternons would pack into the human structure an incredible amount of knowledge and capabilities.

Why, after such progress, do Eternons continue to assemble forms of life simpler than us, from microbes to whales? We can answer by observing our own behavior.  Although we have powerful computers, we continue to produce much needed pots, chairs, nails, pens, etc. Likewise, Although  Eternons have us, they continue to produce over a million distinct species, all having a place and use on Earth.

 

16 – Lamarkism: Laborious Origins

We have an enormous wealth of data on past and present living beings. Paleontologists work with a  record that grows richer every day. Modern techniques even allow to compare DNA and molecular arrangements. Except for those who chose to ignore an  impressive body of evidence,  evolution as we briefly described is a widely accepted fact. Yet, unlike Eternism, current scientific theories fail to fully elucidate the mechanism and purpose of this evolution.

In the eighteenth century, Lamark attempted to explain what had caused animals to evolve. He suggested that characteristics acquired by individuals during their existence were transmitted  to their descendants.  For example,  ancestors of the giraffe, running out of food, had tried to reach higher leaves in trees. They had stretched and elongated their necks during days. Then, they had passed to their offspring this feature of a slightly longer neck . The offspring had imitated their parents and little by little the entire species had retained the long neck as a permanent feature.

Lamark’s ideas were enticing. It meant that part of what was achieved during life was bestowed upon the progeny. Efforts were not wasted, they entered the cycle of generations. Direct physical heritage was the way for organisms to rise toward perfection. This in itself was be the principal reason for evolution, from amebas to humans.

This theory, however, could not explain how most characteristics had appeared in the first place. Flapping a limb in the air does not make it grow feathers. No effort to see brings a blind creature to develop an eye. Furthermore, Lamarkism could not offer any mechanism by which alterations of the body would impact the eggs or sperms of a parent. In fact, it was already quite clear that they do not. Children of  manual workers were not born with callous hands!

Searching for possible evidence in favor a Lamark, some scientists even cut off the tails of generations of mice. They found no variation in the tail size of the progeny. Eventually, most biologists rejected the concept of an evolution based on the transmission through heredity of acquired characteristics.

 

17 – Darwinism: Specious Origins

In 1859, Darwin published The Origin of Species. It exposed a theory in which natural selection ruled evolution. Organisms were born with fortuitous mutations. Some of these mutations were advantageous. They improved chances for survival and thus for passing them on to descendants.

According to Darwin, an ancestor of the giraffe was born “accidentally” with a long neck. Such feature had given it an edge over its peers when reaching for scarce food. In the struggle for survival, this favored mutant and its descendants had prevailed; the others had vanished.

For Darwin, evolution was the result of both chance and necessity. Amebas had become humans through billions of random mutations. Evolution had no purpose other than to increase the presence of “stronger” genes in future generations. Moreover, evolution had no direction and did not necessarily produce higher organisms.

This theory had its roots deep in the philosophy of materialism. Natural selection was replacing God. It did not account for all the wonders of evolution, but it had a logic that Lamarkism could not rival. In spite of its many shortcomings, it became a dogma that was to influence social, economic, and cultural attitudes up to this day.

For years, Newton’s Theory of Gravitation had remained the foundation stone of physics. Then came Einstein and his revolutionary Theory of Relativity introduced new notions about space and time.  For years now, Darwin’s Theory of Evolution has remained the foundation stone of biology. Biology, however, sorely misses its “Einstein.” Darwin’s work is remarkable—and well ahead of the science of his time—but it is not convincing at the close range of genes. Not to mention at the range of those who created the genes: the Eternons.

 

18 – Eternism: Forest of Life

Imagine aliens landing on Earth and discovering our many means of locomotion: bicycles, automobiles, trucks, trains, etc. They notice certain common features of these vehicles and classify them into orders, families, and species. They collect fossils of various ages, such as ox carts or model T’s. They come upon the remote ancestor, a round stone in the shape of a wheel. They dig up rusted bodies and painstakingly reconstruct them. In museums, crowds of aliens are fascinated by these weird metallic carcasses.

The alien “locomologists” produce a brilliant theory of evolution. It shows how the gasoline engine improved over the steam engine, leaving extinct entire families of vehicles. It explains how the pedal, a fortuitous mutation, made the bicycle more fit for survival than the velocipede.  There is nonetheless something quite wrong in the theory. The aliens have overlooked the essential element: the humans who, from Neanderthal to Sapiens, have raised their consciousness and worked diligently to produce this rolling world.

In many respects, our scientists are behaving like these fictional visitors. They ignore the consciousness at work in the evolution of nature. They overlook the Eternons. Consequently, neither Lamark’s willful variations of parents, nor Darwin’s random mutations of children, properly accounts for our multifarious environment. But Eternism does.

Species are so many and frontiers between the kingdoms of life are so blurred because Eternons have never set any boundary to their inventiveness. They have explored every alternative, constantly introducing new forms and new materials. The diversity of  solutions proposed shows that many gifted Eternons have been involved in evolution. These architects of life have followed their own course all the while exchanging information. Hence, we must trace back all organisms not to a single primal cell born by chance, but rather to several “proto-cells” conceived by conscious Eternons. Hence, evolution is not a tree but a forest.

True, not all innovations have been a success and countless species have become extinct. But for Eternons, extinction does not mean a waste or the end. Experienced Eternons are always recycled in new structures.

Evolution makes no sense when reduced to the dreadful struggle of involuntary mutants. Conversely, it shines forth with all its brilliant intelligence when understood as the quest of Eternons for higher consciousness. We are not fortuitous encounters of atoms. We are the fruits of a rational progression. We are, on this planet, the apex of a thoroughly conscious nature.