| Tracing Human Cosmic Genealogy (THCG) - Toward The Compassionate Global Society - As a compelling threshold on the frontier of astronomy, Tracing Human Cosmic Genealogy (THCG) can be compared to the Human Genome Project, both for its enormity of challenge and for its promise in advancing human enlightenment in tandem with The Positive Generational Gonstant (Human Empathy and Compassion). Astronomy - the science which looks backward in time in search of knowledge beneficial to human enlightenment - finds itself in the post-Darwin era ( with respect to THCG) in approximately the same daunting position as confronted biology before breakthrough discoveries were made with deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). To the almost everlasting enlargement of human consciousness, James Watson and Francis Crick were dissuaded neither by the then state-of-the-knowledge nor by the magnitude of the challenge. Unmistakably, THCG represents a turning-point in the way humanity perceives itself. It is a change in perception about the unity of nature-life-infinity accelerated by the rise of sustainability science and technology and the oneness of life perspective (cosmic genealogy). Fortunately for THCG, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's current work with astrobiology - along with that of other space-oriented entities - is leading to acceptance of panspermia as a theory within the realm of orthodox science research. This expected expansion of cosmic focus and direction - likely to include (among others in addition to NASA) the European Space Agency (ESA), the Hubble Telescope, the International Space Station, and many if not most of Earth's observatories - bodes well for panspermia and the mapping of human cosmic genealogy. In tracing human cosmic genealogy backward and forward in time, collaborative research would seem to focus on ascertainment of "near encounters" with Earth's solar/cometary system by other star/cometary systems, with consequent mutual exchange of genetic materials (consistent with the theory of panspermia). Given the variances of masses involved, operative as Earth orbits the core of the Milky Way every 200 million years - coupled with the need to establish the relative/current positions of these star systems - this effort will be monumental. But optimism before the beginning of molecular biology was shared by only a few. Today the potential of the Human Genome Project defies prediction. As a tribute to pioneering work in panspermia (Cosmic Ancestry) conducted by the late Fred Hoyle - who unstintingly shared this recognition with colleague Chandra Wickramasinghe (together with Brig Klyce, author and full-time advocate of Cosmic Ancestry) - a logical starting point for the undertaking might be the Cambrian period, 570 million years ago. It is Fred Hoyle's view that the genetic materials largely responsible for human evolution have been available since the Cambrian period. Tracing human cosmic genealogy (of generations - by generations - for generations) - even if only incrementally successful with each generation - could prove a key tool in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) - would be instrumental in the eventual sharing of knowledge with other planetary systems concerning unfriendly organic materials (e.g. the AIDS virus and Mad Cow Disease) - can open ever more vistas for Golden Rule Stewardship on a cosmic scale. The quest to know from whence we came is an eternal one - indeed, tracing human genealogy through space and time could perforce extend beyond our galaxy . . . . . beyond our "observable universe." Should this be the final result, as every neuron of reasoning suggests (i.e. that life is an infinite process), the meaning of this conclusion for human enlightenment can only enhance the gift of life itself - in unity with nature-life-infinity. Forelaws Homepage "The Golden Rule is a natural consequence of the recognition of the unity of being" (Esme Wynne-Tyson, The Philosophy of Compassion, Centaur Press, 1970). Cosmic Ancestry - NASA Astrobiology - Cardiff Centre for Astrobiology |
| lasted edited 11/08/02 |