When our instruments can now allow us to peek within the first trillionth of a second of the emergence of the universe and see nothing but quantum fluctuations and basically see those very same quantum fluctuations grow over time to be the structures of the universe—superclusters, intergalactic filaments, galaxies, solar systems, planetary systems—and conclude that there is nothing beyond those quantum fluctuations, then at least for me the question of cosmogenesis is pretty much settled, no matter if we would still find later on that the multiverse is really out there. The physics would still be the same, though in a much expanded form. Let's just say that quantum fluctuations are the irreducible primaries, the immovable mover of Aristotle, hehe.
As for biogenesis, I would be very surprised if we don't come up with the complete abiogenesis picture later on. Perhaps it may not come in our lifetime or the immediate generation, but the science is pretty sound, even if still a bit sketchy and fragmented with the so-called RNA world, protein world, etc., competing for primacy. Let us not forget that our knowledge of the genome and DNA is to such point that we could now presumably manipulate our own genes for whatever ends we have in mind—cure all diseases, live for eternity, reengineer human and other living things' genome to make living in other worlds possible, etc.
Just now we have added letters to the DNA, not just the usual AT-CG pairing and it's just right that many are curious to ask: where will it stop? We have created artificial living things in the lab: how soon before we learn such creations are unleashed in our midst? We have eliminated genetic disorder in a human embryo, freeing a baby from diseases inherited from the family tree, we have resurrected an embryo frozen for 24 years to be mothered by a woman who is only two years older. What else awaits us? We could now reconstruct DNA of people long lost just by looking at the ground that they used to walk on. Our human understanding of the DNA and complete genomic information is becoming relentless, and fast, and add to that the promise—horror to some—of AI integration, to make immortality really within the call of humanity.
All of which seem to render the question of biogenesis superfluous suddenly: if we could now manipulate the whole genome, DNA, we have suddenly arrived at the role of the creator that we previously ascribed to a supernatural being.
There is even talk that we are nearing the point where we could create whole universes, totally mind-boggling as it sounds, but the physics is solid, even if no scientist in his right mind would come out in public in support of that—though I understand a few did some years back.
When you consider all of these, humans are actually bestowing themselves with the kind of knowledge and power they previously ascribed to their gods. Perhaps it's the point of history—our religious ideals being the end of our human endeavors all along?
