The Hint of a Finely Tuned Universe

Describe the image.

How do you understand the word fine-tuning?

What about the evidence of the finely tuned universe?

“In 1961, physicist Robert H. Dicke claimed that certain forces in physics, such as gravity and electromagnetism, must be perfectly fine-tuned for life to exist anywhere in the [universe]” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fine-tuned_universe). An example of fine-tuning would be the expansion rate of the universe. According to Stephen Hawking, “If the rate of expansion one second after the big bang had been smaller by even one part in a hundred thousand million million, the [universe] would have collapsed before it ever reached its present size” (http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/Nave-html/Faithpathh/hawking).

Here are the most celebrated and widely accepted examples of fine-tuning for the existence of life. The slightest change in any of these constants would make the possibilities for life impossible (www.discovery.org/m/securepdfs/2018/12/List-of-Fine-Tuning-Parameters-Jay-Richards.pdf):

• The cosmological constant

• The gravitational force constant

• The electromagnetic force constant

• The strong nuclear force constant

• The weak nuclear force constant

What are the choices?

Paul Davies, author of The Goldilocks Enigma: Why is the Universe Just Right for Life, uses the term “Goldilocks” to describe how the physical laws that govern the universe are “just right” for the development of life. Science journalist Anil Ananthaswamy suggests that “if even one of a host of physical properties of the universe had been different, stars, planets, and galaxies would never have formed. Life would have been all but impossible” (https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/is-the-universe-fine-tuned-for-life/). Sandra Faber, professor emerita of astronomy and astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz states that there are only two possible explanations to account for the universe’s perfection:

“One is that there is a God and that God made it that way...the only other approach that makes any sense is to argue that there really is an infinite, or a very big, ensemble of universes out there and we are in one” (Ibid).

Does the finely tuned universe suggest a creator? Explain.

Nima Arkani-Hamed, the physicist behind the multiverse theory, explained in an interview what led to the theory. According to Arkani-Hamed, a multiverse is the only “alternative to believing there’s someone out there who loves us.” (Mark Levinson, Particle Fever (Abramorama Entertainment, 2014)). The odds of a life-sustaining universe are so unfathomable that according to Arkani-Hamed, if God was not the designer, there would have to be trillions of failed attempts—trillions of empty or deflated universes.

Do you find this evidence compelling?