Are the Engineers 'Playing God'?

[180924609]

I recently saw an excellent BBC TV documentary programme from the 'Horizon' series titled 'Playing God'. Its available in full on YouTube in 6 parts, but for how long I don't know. Its well worth a watch - I attach a link here:

BBC Horizon - Playing God
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqLacY865II#ws


It reports the recent advances in bio-engineering and shows how easily 21st century terrestrial bio-engineers can manipulate fundamental DNA components (ordered from an online database!) and can be assembled into a system to perform a specific task e.g. synthetically making diesel oil. Heck even a goat is shown to be genetically altered with spider DNA so that it produces silk in its milk (no joke!). Fascinating but disturbing.


Whilst I do not believe for a second that Planet Earth had any artificially introduced life pre-cursors or engineered complexity, but I do think this is relevant to a Prometheus discussion:

Is the movie Prometheus going to give a reason for the Engineers starting life on Earth artificially?

Are they proposing to return to Earth after a few billion years to reap their crop?

What would that crop be?

Is planet Earth merely an Experimental Farm? (thanks goes to Lost Season6 for that great disturbing phrase!)

[bunnyavpg]

I don't think there is anyway at all that the plot will include anything that indicates the Engineers started life here. It's just too much of a hot potato with the various religious groups, some of whom may have sympathetic ears amongst the producers. By simply taking "God" out of the picture and replacing him with a little green man they would risking boycotts and protests all over the world.

I believe there will be some interference from an alien race (but not the Space Jockeys) in our distant past but believe they will be taking samples back to their labs.

[acidpits]

I personally think that the 'help' we got was perhaps in the form of meteorites hitting the earth polluting the earth with new seeds of life.

[Kol]

I don't think there is anyway at all that the plot will include anything that indicates the Engineers started life here. It's just too much of a hot potato with the various religious groups, some of whom may have sympathetic ears amongst the producers. By simply taking "God" out of the picture and replacing him with a little green man they would risking boycotts and protests all over the world.

I believe there will be some interference from an alien race (but not the Space Jockeys) in our distant past but believe they will be taking samples back to their labs.

i think they terraformed the planet at least, to make it habitable for dominating races like dinosaurs, apes, human.
but i also think they leave the one and other ampule on earth. 

i don't know what you're exactly talking about, when you say "religous groups.
you mean zionists, scientology or just van däniken? 

scott already stated, that his movie will be controversial and somehow against actual science.
by the way: i don't see any problem with the ancient astronaut theme. 
somebody like scott will execute it right, that even all the doubters, the nay-sayers will be pleasant surprised and dig the ancient astronaut theme. 

[LarsVader]

I don't think there is anyway at all that the plot will include anything that indicates the Engineers started life here. It's just too much of a hot potato with the various religious groups, some of whom may have sympathetic ears amongst the producers. By simply taking "God" out of the picture and replacing him with a little green man they would risking boycotts and protests all over the world.

I believe there will be some interference from an alien race (but not the Space Jockeys) in our distant past but believe they will be taking samples back to their labs.

i think they terraformed the planet at least, to make it habitable for dominating races like dinosaurs, apes, human.
but i also think they leave the one and other ampule on earth. 

i don't know what you're exactly talking about, when you say "religous groups.
you mean zionists, scientology or just van däniken? 

scott already stated, that his movie will be controversial and somehow against actual science.
by the way: i don't see any problem with the ancient astronaut theme. 
somebody like scott will execute it right, that even all the doubters, the nay-sayers will be pleasant surprised and dig the ancient astronaut theme. 

I guess only the United States have a large enough fundamentally christian population to start some minor uproar about a sci-fi movie.
From my own european perspective I wouldn't be concerned at all, its 2012! ...sheesh

[evolution_rex]

They may be playing god, or they may actually be what we call gods.