There may be other things--other physical forces even--of which we know
nothing. I strongly suspect there are. There may be other ideas altogether
from any we have hitherto had the use of. For many ages our ideas have been
confined to two or three. We have conceived the idea of creation, which is
the highest and grandest of all, if not historically true; we have conceived
the idea of design, that is of an intelligence making order and revolution
of chaos; and we have conceived the idea of evolution by physical laws of
matter, which, though now so much insisted on, is as ancient as the Greek
philosophers. But there may be another alternative; I think there are other
alternatives.

Whenever the mind obtains a wider view we may find that origin.
for instance, is not always due to what is understood by cause.
At this moment the mind is unable to conceive of anything happening, or of
anything coming into existence, without a cause. From cause to effect is the
sequence of our ideas. But I think that if at some time we should obtain an
altogether different and broader sequence of ideas, we may discover that
there are various other alternatives. As the world, and the universe at
large, was not constructed according to plan, so it is clear that the
sequence or circle of ideas which includes
plan, and cause, and effect, are not in the circle of ideas
which would correctly explain it. Put aside the plan-circle of
ideas, and it will at once be evident that there is no inherent
necessity or "must." There is no inherent necessity for a first
cause, or that the world and the universe was created, or that
it was shaped of existing matter, or that it evolved itself and
its inhabitants, or that the cosmos has existed in varying forms
for ever. There may be other alternatives altogether. The only
idea I can give is the idea that there is another idea.