A Universe Fine-tuned For Life

Gravity is roughly 10^39 times weaker than electromagnetism. If gravity had been 10^33 times weaker than electromagnetism, "stars would be a billion times less massive and would burn a million times faster."

The nuclear weak force is 10^28 times the strength of gravity. Had the weak force been slightly weaker, all the hydrogen in the universe would have been turned to helium (making water impossible, for example).

A stronger nuclear strong force (by as little as 2 percent) would have prevented the formation of protons--yielding a universe without atoms. Decreasing it by 5 percent would have given us a universe without stars.

If the difference in mass between a proton and a neutron were not exactly as it is--roughly twice the mass of an electron--then all neutrons would have become protons or vice versa. Say good-bye to chemistry as we know it--and to life.

The very nature of water--so vital to life--is something of a mystery (a point noticed by one of the forerunners of anthropic reasoning in the nineteenth century, Harvard biologist Lawrence Henderson). Unique amongst the molecules, water is lighter in its solid than liquid form: Ice floats. If it did not, the oceans would freeze from the bottom up and earth would now be covered with solid ice. This property in turn is traceable to the unique properties of the hydrogen atom.

The synthesis of carbon--the vital core of all organic molecules--on a significant scale involves what scientists view as an astonishing coincidence in the ratio of the strong force to electromagnetism. This ratio makes it possible for carbon-12 to reach an excited state of exactly 7.65 MeV at the temperature typical of the centre of stars, which creates a resonance involving helium-4, beryllium-8, and carbon-12--allowing the neceesary binding to take place during a tiny window of opportunity 10-17 seconds long.

(From God the Evidence: The Reconciliation of Faith and Reason in a Postsecular World by Patrick Glynn, as quoted by Dave Hunt in Cosmos, Creator and Human Destiny)

Time

Wonder Why

Went to bed last night with the news on his mind.
Woke up this morning, another tragedy he finds.
And he wonders why he feels so sad...

He asks God why, why so much suffering and pain.
His Bible sits on the shelf, while God gets the blame.
And he wonders why he feels alone...

He wants to fix the world, make everyone feel nice.
But he can't ruffle their feathers, whatever the price.
And he wonders why he feels guilty...

People go about their lives, not giving God a second thought.
But they blame Him for the suffering, and bloody wars being fought.
And they wonder why they feel empty inside...

July 2009

To those who condescendingly say, "I don't read fiction"...

"The first question to ask about fiction is, Why bother to read it? With life as short as it is, with so many pressing demands on our time, with books of information, instruction, and discussion waiting to be read, why should we spend precious time on works of imagination? The eternal answers to this question are two: ...enjoyment and understanding."

-Laurence Perrine, Literature: Structure, Sound and Sense

Dawkins' Delusion

"As an academic scientist I am a passionate Darwinian, believing that natural selection is, if not the only driving force in evolution, certainly the only known force capable of producing the illusion of purpose which so strikes all who contemplate nature.” (Richard Dawkins, A Devils Chaplain: Reflections on Hope, Lies, Science, and Love)

"Darwinian natural selection can produce an uncanny illusion of design. An engineer would be hard put to decide whether a bird or a plane was the more aerodynamically elegant. So powerful is the illusion of design, it took humanity until the mid-19th century to realize that it is an illusion.” (Richard Dawkins, New Scientist 9/17/05)

“Natural selection.… has lifted life from primeval simplicity to the dizzy heights of complexity, beauty, and apparent design that puzzle us today. After Darwin, we all should feel, deep in our bones, suspicious of the very idea of design. The illusion of design is a trap that has caught us before, and Darwin should have immunized us by raising our consciousness.” (Richard Dawkins, The Theory of Evolution by John Maynard Smith, Forward)

“It is almost as if the human brain were specifically designed to misunderstand Darwinism, and to find it hard to believe.” (Richard Dawkins, The Blind Watchmaker, Preface)

VS

“That consciousness is ruled by the laws of physics and chemistry is as preposterous as the suggestion that a nation could be ruled by laws like the laws of grammar. In human affairs [law] means a rule.… which may be kept or broken. In science it means a rule which is never broken…. Thus in the physical world what a body does and what a body ought to do are equivalent; but we are well aware of another domain where they are anything but equivalent. We cannot get away from this distinction…. The laws of logic do not prescribe the way our minds think; they prescribe the way our minds ought to think…. However closely we may associate thought with the physical machinery of the brain, the connection is dropped as irrelevant as soon as we consider the fundamental property of thought—that it may be correct or incorrect…. [Truth] involves recognizing a domain…. of laws which ought to be kept but may be broken. Dismiss the idea that natural law may swallow up religion; it can’t even tackle the multiplication table single-handed.” (Sir Arthur Eddington, Science and the Unseen World)