1) How could the universe have infinitely existed in the form of a mass of elements and then been created chemically through a big bang of its own accord.

This is quite easy to explain, but quite tricky to get your head around. The Big Bang' only really creates space/time. The universe is essentially comprised of subatomic particles, nothing is created or destroyed ever, it simply changes forms and that's true regardless of scales.

Prior to the big bang, there is no dimension of space time, so everything exists at a zero point in which time and space have never existed (which is the very hard part to get your head around as our entire existence and experience occurs within space-time.

Reality takes on a different appearance from different dimensional positions, hence existence in space and time looks like there is a point of creation and destruction, but from a higher dimensional position, the entropic process of the universe has been completed (all existence is a progression towards a superpositional point, the only difference is that we're part of that process, experiencing it 'as it occurs' because our perception is rooted in the fourth dimension.

2) I don't necessarily dismiss the big bang, just the fact that there definitely wasn't a creative force (a God) behind it.

There was a creative force, most likely, but that remains an unknown factor, and there is no evidence to suggest that an intelligent entity is involved (the hypothesis would of course require demonstration of where that entity came from).

3) I don't understand how chemicals can combine and form molecules which develop into organs and bodies which have LIFE. How does life come from lifeless matter? How are humans conscious and no other animal comes close to us?

Entropic process causes the change of state of matter, which is comprised of elements, that are made up of atoms, which are constructed of subatomic particles.

How life initially occurred is up for debate - it probably involved amino acids. What is certain that once you establish single cell life forms, evolutionary theory can explain how single cells slowly, over time, develop into different and more complex life forms. Things like organs don't appear 'over night' they develop from rudimentary forms (the Blind Watchmaker explains this really well, showing how an eye can occur from very simple lifeforms).

No living animal comes close to us. However, homo sapains are the only surviving member of our species (so far at least seven separate species of homind of the homo species are known to have existed, all but one before homo sapian, homo nethadrathal overlaps home sapiens).

Human consciousness isn't actually anywhere near as special as people like to believe, what seperates us from the other species is our capacity for language, not consciousness - which is a factor of all mammals.

We're also the only mammal capable of true language due to a percuilarity of the human lyrnx and throat (which creates an increased choking risk). The position of the human lyranx and voice box mean that humans are capable of making an near infinite number of sounds, compared to most other mammals that can usually muster between 40 and 100 distinct sounds.

We also have minimal nervous system speciality (very important in creating spare 'brain capacity'). Humans don't have to fly, spot prey at a mile, smell blood in the water etc all of which uses up an inordinate amount of fixed brain capacity, which leaves room for increased mirror neurons (of which we have s**t loads) which are involved in learning.

We tend to view animals as inferior 'intellectually' because we judge them from an humanocentric position - but we also lack, say the capacity of a smell of a dog, the sonar of a bat, the auditory capacity of a cat - which arguably are far superior - but we judge these as inferior, because they're not like us.

For example, we need to build a scanner, and tests to detect some forms of cancer, that experimental evidence suggests dogs can smell.

"One Nation Under God, has turned into One Nation Under the Influence of One Drug"
[Link]

Just for the record jamie, I personally can't get my head round a lot of what you're explaining. It isn't stubbornness, I just can't follow the explanatory steps, particularly in the case of life which you say is up for debate. The fact that you use words like 'probably' indicates that there is no real certainty over anything in this field at all.
With single-celled organisms and suchlike we can say that life must come from 'x' because a cell can be broken down chemically in all its parts. But we don't actually know how. Just the manner in which chemicals react and develop. If we could explain it fully then I would have thought scientists would be geared towards a life-creating project that extends beyond the synthetic DNA already created.

I ain't got nuthin' funny to say. Sorry.

No, creating life out of nothing by taking all the necessary elements or chemicals or whatever and producing it in cellular form in a lab. Like life when it starts. Not copying. I'm no scientist but if we can explain the theory of life at a single-cellular level, should it not also be possible to play God and create our own before moving on to more complex organisms?

I ain't got nuthin' funny to say. Sorry.

We have done, to a point, its not biological but it is undeniably life.

I posted this recently
[Link]

This is a Robot that is made out of Lego, what is Extraordinary about this robot is we have digitized the brain of a worm & put it in this robot. What you are seeing isnt just a silly plastic toy rolling about on the floor but a conscious creature encountering its environment for the first time.

It is Alive & we made it.

Sex Panther 60% of the time it works every time

There'll be Spider-Goats terrorising people on the Yorkshire Moors before long, you mark my words. Then there'll be an American Spider-Goat in London. This is our terrifying future.

Goodness is what you do. Not who you pray to.

We used a Worms brain as a benchmark but it is very much its own mechanical worm created by us.

Also we have been taking Elemental gases & turning them into organic molecules since the 50's I'll let our Lord & Saviour Carl Sagan explain
[Link]
From here its simply a case of putting these molecules together to form simple life forms.

We are painfully close to creating life, DNA is effectively billions of strands of 1's & 0's in sequence, we are trying to create something in a laboratory in what 80? years that evolution has taken millions actually billions of years to achieve.
In the future our high school science classes will have students sit down & assemble DNA & molecules into into lifeforms & no one will bat and eyelid.

We are also painfully close to being a type 1 Civilization part of that will be controlling our weather. Surely weather control is a god like thing for humans to do?

Edited by Ouzo Dan (20 Mar 2015 2.25pm)

Sex Panther 60% of the time it works every time