The evidence that life started almost as soon as it was physically possible indicates to me that there's probably some kind of strong inevitability behind it. H

The evidence that life started almost as soon as it was physically possible indicates to me that there's probably some kind of strong inevitability behind it. Here's an interesting theory about emergence of life being driven by thermodynamics. [0] In short, physical systems naturally evolve in a way that maximizes dissipation of energy, and life is really good at dissipating energy. Genes probably came after metabolism in my view. Certainly, a "critical gene sequence" is no good without the other chemical infrastructure to make use of it, in much the same way code is no use without a runtime environment. Yes, RNA can also form enzymes, but it's not really the same thing because in that role they don't have to fully define a life form; it can just be part of a life-like mess. I also like droplet/membrane-first theories of abiogenesis [1]. My guess is a lot of stuff co-evolved before "cells" were really a firm concept. Proto-life would have just barely worked at first, hardly distinct from the environment, with a lot of useless or counterproductive material along for the ride. "Living" systems would have replicated by simple physical phenomena (like the droplet division in [1]), with genes taking over as emerging competition justified the complexity. Side note: probably one of the reasons, if not the main one, that people don't want to engage on the improbability of abiogenesis is that it smells like Creationism. [0] https://www.quantamagazine.org/first-support-for-a-physics-theory-of-life-20170726/ https://www.quantamagazine.org/first-support-for-a-physics-t... [1] https://www.quantamagazine.org/dividing-droplets-could-explain-origin-of-life-20170119/ https://www.quantamagazine.org/dividing-droplets-could-expla... (edit: previously https://www.wired.com/2017/01/life-begin-dividing-droplets-hold-answer/ https://www.wired.com/2017/01/life-begin-dividing-droplets-h... which is a reprint)