Typicality of Earth’s starting conditions and evolutionary pace among inhabited worlds

Ascertain how typical Earth’s initial physical and chemical parameters (including mass, composition, mantle redox state, and orbital distance) are among inhabited worlds, and evaluate whether Earth’s environmental–biological co-evolution has proceeded at a rapid, typical, or slow pace relative to other inhabited planets.

Background

The alternative model proposed depends on planetary properties enabling predictable environmental trajectories (e.g., oxygenation). The authors note that fixed starting conditions may constrain or accelerate such trajectories, influencing whether human-like outcomes are likely.

Determining Earth’s typicality and relative pace informs whether its co-evolutionary path is representative, faster, or slower compared to other life-bearing planets.