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“I find it almost disturbing that the universe favors life this strongly” – Nick Lane

Nick Lane, Dwarkesh

The presentation argues that life likely arises universally from proton gradients in deep-sea hydrothermal vents, establishing carbon-based biochemistry through geochemical processes rather than random chemical accidents. It posits that the transition to complex eukaryotic life is a rare bottleneck caused by a singular endosymbiotic event, which necessitated the evolution of two sexes to maintain mitochondrial integrity and large genomes. While prokaryotic life is projected to be widespread across wet, rocky exoplanets, the extreme improbability of eukaryogenesis suggests that intelligent life remains exceptionally scarce in the universe.