How did life start on earth?

There are two main theories as to how life first began.

One theory holds that life originated solely from natural processes.

The alternative theory holds that causes other than natural ones gave rise to life.

Random accidental changes are mathematically impossibly improbable; the odds of creating functional enzymes are such that there is not enough time in the known universe or molecules for the odds to have a responsible change to have happened. There is disagreement over how natural causes could have created the complex information and chemical structures required for life.

The prevailing scientific paradigm holds that everything must have a natural cause, ruling out any cause other than matter and energy and providing no explanation for the origin of life on Earth.

Though the precise process by which life first appeared on Earth is still unclear, one popular theory is abiogenesis, which postulates that life evolved from non-living matter over billions of years through natural processes. This process most likely involved the formation of simple organic molecules in the primordial soup of the planet's early oceans, which then assembled into more complex structures like proteins and nucleic acids before these molecules organized into self-replicating entities and eventually gave rise to the first living organisms.