--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In short there is not a shred of…" description: "\"In short there is not a shred of objective evidence to support the hypothesis that life began in an organic soup here on the Earth.\" — Fred Hoyle" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd1/fred-hoyle-11367_earth_in-short-there-is-not-a-shred-of-objecti_2550410.jpg" --- # In short there is not a shred of objective evidence to… ![“In short there is not a shred of objective evidence to support the hypothesis that life began in an organic soup here on the Earth.” quote by Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd1/fred-hoyle-11367_earth_in-short-there-is-not-a-shred-of-objecti_2550410.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd1/fred-hoyle-11367_earth_in-short-there-is-not-a-shred-of-objecti_2550410.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd1/fred-hoyle-11367_earth_in-short-there-is-not-a-shred-of-objecti_2550410.jpg) > “In short there is not a shred of objective evidence to support the hypothesis that life began in an organic soup here on the Earth.” [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. There is no objective evidence supporting the hypothesis that life originated in a primordial organic soup on Earth. **In simple terms:** No solid proof exists for life starting in a soup. Key Takeaway Explore alternative origins for life. Themes origin of life science hypotheses evidence Mood inquisitive critical Type scientific philosophical When to use this quote - research funding - laboratory experiments - public outreach - policy making Key Concepts abiogenesis alternative theories experimental validation Questions to Reflect On - What experiments could test the soup hypothesis? - How do we evaluate competing origin theories? A Different Perspective Evidence may be indirect or not yet discovered. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Origin of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/origin-of-life/) [Support](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/support/) ## Related quotes > [The hypothesis that life has developed from inorganic matter is, at present, still an article of faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-w-n-sullivan/the-hypothesis-that-life-has-developed-from-inorganic-matter-is-at/) [J. W. N. Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-w-n-sullivan/) > [“social psychologist Ziva Kunda, who argues that people are indeed more likely to believe things they want to believe, but that their capacity to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/social-psychologist-ziva-kunda-who-argues-that-people-are-indeed-more/) [Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/) > [Objective evidence and certitude are doubtless very fine ideals to play with, but where on this moonlit and dream-visited planet are they found?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/objective-evidence-and-certitude-are-doubtless-very-fine-ideals-to/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [I would argue that the objective evidence shows that big government is not a friend to African Americans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rand-paul/i-would-argue-that-the-objective-evidence-shows-that-big-government/) [Rand Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rand-paul/) > [The chance that higher life forms might have emerged through evolutionary processes is comparable with the chance that a tornado sweeping through a junk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/the-chance-that-higher-life-forms-might-have-emerged-through/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) > [Once we see, however, that the probability of life originating at random is so utterly minuscule as to make it absurd, it becomes sensible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/once-we-see-however-that-the-probability-of-life-originating-at/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) > [The likelihood of the formation of life from inanimate matter is 1 to a number with 40,000 noughts after it (1040,000)… It is big…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/the-likelihood-of-the-formation-of-life-from-inanimate-matter-is-1-to/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) > [Earlier theories ... were based on the hypothesis that all the matter in the universe was created in one big bang at a particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/earlier-theories-were-based-on-the-hypothesis-that-all-the-matter-in/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) > [The notion that not only the biopolymer but the operating program of a living cell could be arrived at by chance in a primordial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/the-notion-that-not-only-the-biopolymer-but-the-operating-program-of/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) > [“If it be said that it is the mind that produces Karma (I ask), what is the mind? If you mean the heart, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaiten-nukariya/if-it-be-said-that-it-is-the-mind-that-produces-karma-i-ask-what-is/) [Kaiten Nukariya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kaiten-nukariya/) > [“The uniformity of the earth's life, more astonishing than its diversity, is accountable by the high probability that we derived, originally, from some single…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-uniformity-of-the-earth-s-life-more-astonishing-than-its/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [All of us who study the origin of life find that the more we look into it, the more we feel it is too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-urey/all-of-us-who-study-the-origin-of-life-find-that-the-more-we-look/) [Harold Urey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-urey/) > [Evolution does not attempt to explain the origin of life. It is simply a history of the process of life. With the secret cause…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyman-abbott/evolution-does-not-attempt-to-explain-the-origin-of-life-it-is-simply/) [Lyman Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyman-abbott/) > [“Yet, unlike the causal specificity that obtains for microevolutionary processes, origin-of-life researchers have yet to specify the chemical pathways that supposedly originated life. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-a-dembski/yet-unlike-the-causal-specificity-that-obtains-for-microevolutionary/) [William A. Dembski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-a-dembski/) > [One of the most significant events in our distant past is still perhaps the greatest mystery: the origins of life itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/one-of-the-most-significant-events-in-our-distant-past-is-still/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) ## More by Fred Hoyle > [“Life cannot have had a random beginning ... The trouble is that there are about 2000 enzymes, and the chance of obtaining them all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/life-cannot-have-had-a-random-beginning-the-trouble-is-that-there-are/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) > [ One \[idea\] was that the Universe started its life a finite time ago in a single huge explosion, and that the present expansion is… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/one-idea-was-that-the-universe-started-its-life-a-finite-time-ago-in/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) > [Some super-calculating intellect must have designed the properties of the carbon atom, otherwise the chance of my finding such an atom through the blind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/some-super-calculating-intellect-must-have-designed-the-properties-of/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) > [The suggestion that petroleum might have arisen from some transformation of squashed fish or biological detritus is surely the silliest notion to have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/the-suggestion-that-petroleum-might-have-arisen-from-some/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) > [Not far from the meeting's venue, at one of the famed Observatory Club tea meetings, Fred once started a talk by saying, 'Oh, Ooh,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/not-far-from-the-meeting-s-venue-at-one-of-the-famed-observatory-club/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) > [Perhaps the most majestic feature of our whole existence is that while our intelligences are powerful enough to penetrate deeply into the evolution of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/perhaps-the-most-majestic-feature-of-our-whole-existence-is-that/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) > [Hoyle's enduring insights into stars, nucleosynthesis, and the large-scale universe rank among the greatest achievements of 20th-century astrophysics. Moreover, his theories were unfailingly stimulating,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/hoyle-s-enduring-insights-into-stars-nucleosynthesis-and-the-large/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) > [In the popular mind, if Hoyle is remembered it is as the prime mover of the discredited Steady State theory of the universe. "Everybody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/in-the-popular-mind-if-hoyle-is-remembered-it-is-as-the-prime-mover/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) > [“I am an atheist, but as far as blowing up the world in a nuclear war goes, I tell them not to worry.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/i-am-an-atheist-but-as-far-as-blowing-up-the-world-in-a-nuclear-war/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) > [Science is prediction, not explanation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/science-is-prediction-not-explanation/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) > [I don't see the logic of rejecting data just because they seem incredible ... the establishment defends itself by complicating everything to the point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/i-don-t-see-the-logic-of-rejecting-data-just-because-they-seem/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) > [Earlier theories ... were based on the hypothesis that all the matter in the universe was created in one big bang at a particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/earlier-theories-were-based-on-the-hypothesis-that-all-the-matter-in/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) > [It seems to be a characteristic of all great work that it creators wear a cloak of imprecision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/it-seems-to-be-a-characteristic-of-all-great-work-that-it-creators/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) > [Once I had learnt my twelve times table (at the age of three) it was downhill all the way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/once-i-had-learnt-my-twelve-times-table-at-the-age-of-three-it-was/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) > [The notion that not only the biopolymer but the operating program of a living cell could be arrived at by chance in a primordial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/the-notion-that-not-only-the-biopolymer-but-the-operating-program-of/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) [Explore all 60 Fred Hoyle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) ## More Earth quotes > [There is something more important than any ultimate weapon. That is the ultimate position-the position of total control over Earth that lies somewhere out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/there-is-something-more-important-than-any-ultimate-weapon-that-is/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... I don't if anybody knows what it is but it was about... in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-guest/well-the-day-the-earth-caught-fire-was-a-story-i-don-t-if-anybody/) [Val Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-guest/) > [“The global population of Earth are involved in the following corporate government experiments: The long term effects of - 1. Nuclear bomb fallout radiation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/the-global-population-of-earth-are-involved-in-the-following/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [Mythology is something that always has opportunities to explore. 'It' has been on Earth for millions of years. He's been in contact with humans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-muschietti/mythology-is-something-that-always-has-opportunities-to-explore-it/) [Andy Muschietti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-muschietti/) > [Give me strength to walk the soft earth, a relative to all that is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/black-elk/give-me-strength-to-walk-the-soft-earth-a-relative-to-all-that-is/) [Black Elk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/black-elk/) > [I have lifted my plane . . . for perhaps a thousand flights and I have never felt her wheels glide from the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/i-have-lifted-my-plane-for-perhaps-a-thousand-flights-and-i-have/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [Set NOT your hearts on the flowers of this world. They shall fade and die. Prize the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/set-not-your-hearts-on-the-flowers-of-this-world-they-shall-fade-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Then all this earth shines like one house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/then-all-this-earth-shines-like-one-house/) [Ramana Maharshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramana-maharshi/) > [When I get a chance to play golf or go on a boat with good people, take the boat out and put some lobsters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-mac/when-i-get-a-chance-to-play-golf-or-go-on-a-boat-with-good-people/) [Bernie Mac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-mac/) > [When man of slender visits you / Nothing on earth that one can do / In well he’ll hide, or watery hole / And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-goldstein/when-man-of-slender-visits-you-nothing-on-earth-that-one-can-do-in/) [Jack Goldstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-goldstein/) > [Cities are 2% of the earth's crust, but they are 50% of the world's population.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlo-ratti/cities-are-2-of-the-earth-s-crust-but-they-are-50-of-the-world-s/) [Carlo Ratti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlo-ratti/) > [This, at last, was where things were as they ought to be. Everything was in its place -- the tree, the earth underneath, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-liedloff/this-at-last-was-where-things-were-as-they-ought-to-be-everything-was/) [Jean Liedloff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-liedloff/) > [Bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Take what I cannot give: my heart, body, thoughts, time, abilities, money, health, strength,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-prentiss/bring-into-captivity-every-thought-to-the-obedience-of-christ-take/) [Elizabeth Prentiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-prentiss/) > [What did you do to save the world today?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richie/what-did-you-do-to-save-the-world-today/) [Richie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richie/) [Browse all 15,455 Earth quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In short there is not a shred of objective evidence to support the hypothesis that life began in an organic soup here on the Earth.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Fred Hoyle" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/in-short-there-is-not-a-shred-of-objective-evidence-to-support-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Earth" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/in-short-there-is-not-a-shred-of-objective-evidence-to-support-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd1/fred-hoyle-11367_earth_in-short-there-is-not-a-shred-of-objecti_2550410.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd1/fred-hoyle-11367_earth_in-short-there-is-not-a-shred-of-objecti_2550410.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd1/fred-hoyle-11367_earth_in-short-there-is-not-a-shred-of-objecti_2550410.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In short there is not a shred of objective evidence to support the hypothesis that life began in an organic…” — Fred Hoyle", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Fred Hoyle", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "In short there is not a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/in-short-there-is-not-a-shred-of-objective-evidence-to-support-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/in-short-there-is-not-a-shred-of-objective-evidence-to-support-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```