There are many explanations about how humans appeared on Earth. Scientists say that humans evolved from primate ancestors millions of years ago. Religious believers think that humans were created by God! Among many different hypotheses about the origin of humans, one of them believes that “Humans come from other planets!” So what is the truth? Let’s explore the origin of humans with LotusBuddhas!
Humans from another planet
A book titled “Humans Are Not From Earth” by Dr. Ellis Silver, a biologist, presents the alien characteristics of human beings:
- Humans are sensitive to sunlight.
- Humans do not prefer natural foods.
- Humans have difficulty in childbirth due to the large size of the fetal head.
Dr. Silver puts forward the theory that human ancestors may have come to Earth via meteorites or comets about 60,000 to 200,000 years ago and gradually evolved into the humans of today.
Others believe that humans originated from other planets and decided to stay on Earth because they found it too fantastic! Thus, humans may not be “native” creatures like many others.
This hypothesis has many illogical and unrealistic things:
- The ancestors of humans are believed to be microorganisms attached to meteorites, but if they were actual humans, would they have been able to survive the impact with the Earth?
- If humans originated from another planet, then they must possess superior intelligence compared to us. It could be that they are at an industrial revolution level of 100.0! So why, according to history, did the progress of extraterrestrial civilizations start from a low point and gradually improve?
- For thousands of years, archaeology has not found any traces of civilizations more advanced than our current one. Where did the flying saucers, architectural structures, and modern vehicles go?
- The space travelers on the flying saucers found Earth to be ideal and decided to stay, hunting and gathering… and rebuilding from scratch!
Humans are not the only species sensitive to sunlight. - During the process of evolution, when humans discovered fire, their digestive systems adjusted to prefer cooked food over raw food found in nature.
- Thousands of years ago, before the intervention of modern medicine, humans still gave birth successfully, although the survival rate would have been lower than it is today. The larger size of newborns is a result of human evolution in terms of intelligence.
Some people who do not understand evolution argue that if humans evolved from primates, we should see or capture pictures and videos of primates in zoos evolving into humans!
When we talk about evolution, we are talking about thousands or millions of years, while cameras and videos only appeared in the 18th-19th centuries! Primitive humans evolved into modern humans as a separate branch that split off from the primitive primates and formed a new species. The primitive primate group branched off and produced many types of primates that we see today.
This is similar to African, Asian, and European people… Christianity has Catholicism, Protestantism… Buddhism has different sects.
The process of evolution is described as a “family tree” with many branches and twigs, with some branches becoming extinct, while others continue to develop and hybridize with other branches to create diversity on Earth.
Evolution depends on many factors, including living environment, habits, diet… that have affected the genetic makeup of a population. Asians have yellow skin, Africans have black skin, and Westerners have white skin… The average height of Japanese people has increased by 10cm compared to several decades ago. The average age of puberty has decreased compared to before…
With significant progress in many aspects, humans are pushing forward this evolutionary process when many new things are being consumed and inhaled. Meanwhile, the primates in zoos seem to have undergone little change.
Ignoring this seemingly humorous and ridiculous hypothesis, the following two hypotheses seem more plausible.
Humans were created by aliens
An American author of Russian descent named Zecharia Sitchin argued that extraterrestrial beings whom he called the Annunaki genetically engineered the Annunaki and Homo Erectus genes to create humans, to turn them into slaves for gold mining.
According to Sitchin, the Annunaki came from a distant planet called Nibiru. Unlike other planets in the solar system, Nibiru has a long elliptical orbit, allowing it to invade the solar system every 3,600 years.
Erich von Däniken, the author of the famous book “Chariots of the Gods,” explores the idea that extraterrestrial beings are responsible for establishing many ancient civilizations on Earth.
He cites examples such as the Egyptian pyramids and Stonehenge as evidence of extraterrestrial influence on Earth, as well as ancient artifacts, cave paintings resembling extraterrestrial beings, spaceships, and astronauts. At that time, humans viewed these extraterrestrial beings as gods, as referenced in religious texts such as the Bible.
Humans evolved from microorganisms outside of Earth
Panspermia, or “seeds everywhere,” is a hypothesis that suggests life on Earth originated from microorganisms from outer space.
Supporters of this theory point to a time when Earth experienced a series of comet showers about 4 billion years ago. During this time, bacteria and extraterrestrial organisms could have been transported from other celestial bodies to our planet.
There are many bacteria found on Earth that can withstand harsh temperatures, similar to what is found in space. Considering such evidence, it is possible that these organisms actually came from elsewhere to help shape our planet into what it is today.
Humans created by God
Many Christian believers believe that God created the universe and humans. But my “God” is a bit different from the God they think of. My God is a college student studying IT along with his game.
Because of his parents, God was born. Because God exists, he created a game called “Universe.” Because there is a universe and Earth is a part of it, he created many “sub-programs” running on it. These “artificial intelligence” programs interact with each other and gradually improve their code.
One sunny day after breaking up with his girlfriend, he caused an earthquake that killed some people, floods, lightning strikes… A good person was hit by a truck and killed while stopping at a red light – a bad person just won a $1 billion lottery!
He lay down to sleep with a heavy heart. Meanwhile, the “sub-programs” on Earth were trying to explain why and why through reasoning: Karma, randomness, destiny…
His universe is not infinite as they often think, but because the knowledge of the “sub-programs” on Earth is limited, they think the universe is infinite and no one created it.
This is like an ant thinking that the Earth is limitless, and with the lifespan of a mosquito, it would think that humans are immortal. No one knew about America until Columbus discovered it. Is the Earth spherical or flat? The “sub-programs” are gradually evolving and improving their code.
Humans evolved from primates
The evolution of humans is a process of change that has been going on for millions of years and may have originated from the Apelike species. Scientific evidence shows that the physical and behavioral characteristics shared by all primitive ape species originated from Apelike ancestors, which developed around 6 million years ago.
- One of the earliest characteristics of humans is the ability to walk on two feet (bipedalism), which developed over 4 million years ago.
- Other important characteristics of humans, such as large and complex brains, creativity, tool use, and language ability, developed more recently.
- Many advanced features including complex expressions, art, and cultural diversity emerged mainly in the last 100,000 years.
Humans are primates. Similarities in physical and genetic traits indicate that the intelligent species, Homo sapiens, is closely related to another group of primates, the tailless apes (Ape – chimpanzees, gibbons).
Primitive humans first appeared in Africa, and many evolutions occurred on that continent. Fossils of primitive humans have been discovered there dating back 6 to 2 million years.
The first humans to migrate out of Africa to Asia probably did so between 2 million and 1.8 million years ago. They entered Europe at a later time, from 1.5 million to 1 million years ago. Homo sapiens settled in many parts of the world later.
For example, the first people to arrive in Australia were around 60,000 years ago and in America around 30,000 years ago. The beginning of agriculture and the rise of civilizations began around 12,000 years ago.
About paleoanthropology
Paleoanthropology is the scientific study of human evolution. It is a subset of anthropology, which studies human culture, society, and biology.
Fields related to understanding similarities and differences in genetic inheritance between humans and other species include body form, physiology, and behavior.
Paleoanthropologists seek the origins of physical traits and behaviors of humans, attempting to uncover the evolutionary processes that have shaped the potential, tendencies, and limitations of all species.
For many people, paleoanthropology is an exciting scientific field because it investigates the origins of universal characteristics over millions of years.
However, some people find the concept of human evolution problematic because it seems incompatible with religious beliefs and many other traditions regarding how humans, other creatures, and the world were formed. Nevertheless, many people have come to reconcile their beliefs with scientific evidence.
Fossils of humans and early artifacts provide the most important clues to our ancient past. The remaining evidence includes bones, tools, and any other evidence (such as footprints, evidence of hearths, or animal bone scars) left by ancient people.
By studying fossilized bones, scientists learn about physical changes in humans over time. Bone size, shape, and muscle scars tell us how our ancestors moved, what they ate, how they used tools, and how the size of their brains changed over time.
The process of human evolution
The process of evolution is related to a series of natural changes that create different species (populations of different organisms) on Earth – some adapting to their environment and some going extinct.
All species originate from the process of biological evolution. In sexually reproducing animals, including humans, the term refers to a group of adults who mate and increase in number.
Scientists classify each species with a name to distinguish it from others. In this system, the human species is classified as Homo sapiens.
Evolution occurs when there are changes at the molecular level in the structure of inherited DNA, especially the ratios of different genes in a population. Genes represent segments of DNA that provide the chemical code to produce proteins.
The information contained in DNA can be changed by a process called mutation. Mutations occur due to environmental factors, diet, bacteria, radiation… The majority of gene mutations are harmful and silent, but a few are beneficial and have significant implications for the process of evolution.
Genes influence the way a body and behavior of an organism develop throughout its life, and that’s why inherited traits can affect the survival and reproduction of a species.
“Evolution is the change in inherited characteristics of a biological population over successive generations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organization, including species, individual organisms, and even molecules such as DNA and proteins.
Life on Earth originated and subsequently evolved from a common ancestor about 3.8 billion years ago. Through numerous branching events, natural selection has created the diversity on this planet, with some species going extinct and others thriving.” – wikipedia.org
Over time, genetic changes can alter the overall lifestyle of a species, such as what it eats, how it develops, and where it can live. Human evolution occurs when genetic variations appear in the ancestral population, leading to new abilities that can adapt to changing environments and lifestyles.
There is no first human
Evolution is a gradual process of change over millions of years. It is impossible to trace the origin of humans, as it is an endless chain of links that we prefer to break down into segments.
Where do humans come from? Did humans come from another planet? Did extraterrestrial beings or a divine being create humans? Or is the emergence of humans just a coincidence due to the interaction of conditions in the process of evolution?
It’s best to keep an open mind and continue exploring this topic to form your own theory about the origin of humans.
