Damithu asked: “However, don’t we have evidence that humans evolved from animals (apes), and not celestial beings?”
Good question.
Yes. That is what is taught in schools, based on scientists’ investigations. However, they have limited resources to trace the history of our planet and the living beings in it.
- Most such deductions are based on radiocarbon dating of organic material left over from the bones of various animal species.
- However, radiocarbon dating is accurate for organic materials up to about 50,000 years old, beyond which the remaining carbon-14 is too small to measure reliably. Our Earth is over 4.5 billion years old. Thus, the scientists can investigate only a tiny fraction of Earth’s history.
- Furthermore, essentially any material (including hard materials like steel) is totally decayed well within a million years.
- Thus, science cannot trace the proposed theory of evolution far enough to verify that theory.
Some of these issues have been discussed in the forum: “Post on ‘Buddhism and Evolution – Aggañña Sutta (DN 27)’“