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You are asking a question about one thing while my original statement concerned the idea that life simply originates everywhere, and nowhere in particular. There are many nearly testable ideas about how life can arise from "chemistry", and it's just a matter of time and somebody is going to make it happen.

The point I was making, though, is that simply because we have life on Earth is no reason to rule out life elsewhere.

Here's a thought experiment for you. Let's say there's a gazillion genes out there in the ocean already "designed/capable" for/of various purposes ~ that is, they are "parts" and they're ready to go.

If those new "parts" get installed in the genome of a cell (let's call it a "critter"), does that result in an evolutionary change, or rather something more like putting a supercharger in a '57 Chevy (and not the one up on blocks we discussed in another thread earlier)?

Remember, that supercharger has to fit, and that may take an additional mounting bracket to match up the Chevy head with the new device, and it's guranteed to improve performance (if not MPG).

Evolution, by definition, does not necessarily result in an improvement in performance, just adequacy given conditions. We certainly cannot say that Chevy evolved! At the same time there appears to be a general trend in critters over the last couple of hundred million years to be smarter and to work more efficiently in adverse conditions. For example, Polar Bears are rather quick witted and certainly live under nasty conditions, yet, voila, they have hair that's "hollow" and conducts light to their skin! One really does have to ask how it was Polar Bears happened to pick up that gene! Other critters have it as well. These guys don't necessarily share a recent common ancestor either.

So, are we looking at evolution or new parts from a vast storehouse of "new parts".

"The point I was making, though, is that simply because we have life on Earth is no reason to rule out life elsewhere."

Very few evos would rule out life anywhere else. Personally I think the entire universe is crawling with life.

But originally you said life just arose according to the physical laws (I'm paraphrasing). I asked what the difference was between that and Abiogenesis and Evolution. I don't see any real distinction.