12/14/2016 Transcript:FineTuningArgument|ReasonableFaith

Transcript:FineTuningArgument

Fromgalaxiesandstars,downtoatomsandsubatomicparticles,theverystructureofouruniverseis
determinedbythesenumbers:

*SpeedofLight:c=299,792,458ms1

3 1 2
*GravitationalConstant:G=6.673x1011m kg s

*Planck'sConstant:1.05457148x1034m2kgs2

*PlanckMassEnergy:1.2209x1022MeV

*MassofElectron,Proton,Neutron:0.511938.3939.6MeV

*MassofUp,Down,StrangeQuark:2.44.8104MeV(Approx.)

*RatioofElectrontoProtonMass:(1836.15)1

*GravitationalCouplingConstant:5.9x1039

*CosmologicalConstant:(2.3x103eV)

*HubbleConstant:71km/s/Mpc(today)

*HiggsVacuumExpectationValue:246.2GeV

Thesearethefundamentalconstantsandquantitiesoftheuniverse.Scientistshavecometotheshocking
realizationthateachofthesenumbershavebeencarefullydialedtoanastonishinglyprecisevalueavalue
thatfallswithinanexceedinglynarrow,lifepermittingrange.Ifanyoneofthesenumberswerealteredbyeven
ahair'sbreadth,nophysical,interactivelifeofanykindcouldexistanywhere.There'dbenostars,nolife,no
planets,nochemistry.

Considergravity,forexample.Theforceofgravityisdeterminedbythegravitationalconstant.Ifthisconstant
variedbyjustonein1060parts,noneofuswouldexist.Tounderstandhowexceedinglynarrowthislife
permittingrangeis,imagineadialdividedinto1060increments.Togetahandleonhowmanytinypointson
thedialthisis,compareittothenumberofcellsinyourbody(1014)orthenumberofsecondsthathaveticked
bysincetimebegan(1020).Ifthegravitationalconstanthadbeenoutoftunebyjustoneofthese
infinitesimallysmallincrements,theuniversewouldeitherhaveexpandedandthinnedoutsorapidlythatno
starscouldformandlifecouldn'texist,oritwouldhavecollapsedbackonitselfwiththesameresult:nostars,
noplanets,nolife.

Orconsidertheexpansionrateoftheuniverse.Thisisdrivenbythecosmologicalconstant.Achangeinits
valuebyamere1partin10120partswouldcausetheuniversetoexpandtoorapidlyortooslowly.Ineither

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case,theuniversewould,again,belifeprohibiting.

Or,anotherexampleoffinetuning:Ifthemassandenergyoftheearlyuniversewerenotevenlydistributedto
123
anincomprehensibleprecisionof1partin1010 ,theuniversewouldbehostiletolifeofanykind.

Thefactisouruniversepermitsphysical,interactivelifeonlybecausethese,andmanyothernumbers,have
beenindependentlyandexquisitelybalancedonarazor'sedge.

"WHEREVERPHYSICISTSLOOK,THEYSEEEXAMPLESOFFINETUNING."SirMartinRees

"THEREMARKABLEFACTISTHATTHEVALUESOFTHESENUMBERSSEEMTOHAVEBEENVERY
FINELYADJUSTEDTOMAKEPOSSIBLETHEDEVELOPMENTOFLIFE."StephenHawking

"IFANYONECLAIMSNOTTOBESURPRISEDBYTHESPECIALFEATURESTHEUNIVERSEHAS,HEIS
HIDINGHISHEADINTHESAND.THESESPECIALFEATURESARESURPRISINGANDUNLIKELY."David
Deutsch

Whatisthebestexplanationforthisastoundingphenomenon?Therearethreeliveoptions.Thefinetuningof
theuniverseisduetoeitherphysicalnecessity,chance,ordesign.Whichoftheseoptionsisthemost
plausible?

Accordingtothisalternative(physicalnecessity),theuniversemustbelifepermitting.Theprecisevaluesof
theseconstantsandquantitiescouldnotbeotherwise.Butisthisplausible?Isalifeprohibitinguniverse
impossible?Farfromit!It'snotonlypossibleit'sfarmorelikelythanalifepermittinguniverse.Theconstants
andquantitiesarenotdeterminedbythelawsofnature.There'snoreasonorevidencetosuggestthatfine
tuningisnecessary.

Howaboutchance?Didwejustgetreally,really,really,reallylucky?No.Theprobabilitiesinvolvedareso
ridiculouslyremoteastoputthefinetuningwellbeyondthereachofchance.So,inanefforttokeepthis
optionalive,somehavegonebeyondempiricalscienceandoptedforamorespeculativeapproachknownas
themultiverse.Theyimagineauniversegeneratorthatcranksoutsuchavastnumberofuniversesthat,odds
are,lifepermittinguniverseswilleventuallypopout.However,there'snoscientificevidencefortheexistence
ofthismultiverse.Itcannotbedetected,observed,measured,orproved.Andtheuniversegenerator,itself,
wouldrequireanenormousamountoffinetuning!

Furthermore,smallpatchesoforderarefarmoreprobablethanbigones.Sothemostprobable,observable
universewouldbeasmallone,inhabitedbyasingle,simpleobserver(Boltzmannbrain).Butwhatweactually
observeistheverythingweshouldleastexpect:avast,spectacularlycomplex,highlyordereduniverse,
inhabitedbybillionsofotherobservers.Soevenifthemultiverseexisted(whichisamootpoint),itwouldn'tdo
anythingtoexplainthefinetuning.

Giventheimplausibilityofphysicalnecessityorchance,thebestexplanationforwhytheuniverseisfinetuned
forlifemayverywellbeitwasdesignedthatway.

"ACOMMONSENSEINTERPRETATIONOFTHEFACTSSUGGESTSTHATASUPERINTELLECT
MONKEYEDWITHPHYSICS...ANDTHATTHEREARENOBLINDFORCESWORTHSPEAKINGABOUTIN
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NATURE.THENUMBERSONECALCULATESFROMTHEFACTSSEEMTOMESOOVERWHELMINGAS
TOPUTTHISCONCLUSIONALMOSTBEYONDQUESTION."FredHoyle

"THEREISFORMEPOWERFULEVIDENCETHATTHEREISSOMETHINGGOINGONBEHINDITALL...IT
SEEMSASTHOUGHSOMEBODYHASFINETUNEDNATURE'SNUMBERSTOMAKETHEUNIVERSE.THE
IMPRESSIONOFDESIGNISOVERWHELMING."PaulDavies

"THEHEAVENSDECLARETHEGLORYOFGODTHESKIESPROCLAIMTHEWORKOFHISHANDS.DAY
AFTERDAYTHEYPOURFORTHSPEECHNIGHTAFTERNIGHTTHEYREVEALKNOWLEDGE."Psalm
19:12

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