The fine tuning of the universal constants presents a major problem for atheists, because it cannot have come about chance. The forces and constants that undergird the existence and operation of our universe are so precisely fine-tuned and inter-dependent that their precise values could not be a product of mere chance. The surprising and exquisitely precise values of all these life-permitting forces perplex atheists and point towards a supremely intelligent designer.
VIDEO AND PODCAST LINKS
VIDEO PRESENTATION, EPISODE 8: FINELY TUNED UNIVERSE
AUDIO PODCAST, EPISODE 8: FINELY TUNED UNIVERSE
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TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to Episode 8 of Evidence For Belief, a series which examines the evidence for the existence of God. In this Episode we will continue to explore the evidence of intelligent design, this time moving out from the micro world of biology to the macro world of the wider universe. And in particular, we are going to examine the incredibly fine-tuned forces that govern the ongoing operation of our universe.
FINELY TUNED COSMOLOGICAL CONSTANTS
The very existence of our universe, from the realm of galaxies and stars right down to the minuscule level of atoms and subatomic particles, is governed by and predicated upon a series of very precise forces, known as universal constants. These include such things as the force of gravity, the cosmological constant which governs the expansion of the universe, the electromagnetic force which holds electrons in orbit around the nucleus of an atom so that atoms don’t fly apart, the strong nuclear force which binds similarly charged particles together to form the nucleus of an atom, and many more fundamental forces. There are about 34 of these forces or constants which hold our universe together and make its existence possible.
But what scientists have discovered in recent decades is that all of these fundamental universal forces or constants are extremely and precisely fine-tuned to a very specific value. In fact if any one of these forces or constants were altered by the tiniest fraction of a percent, even a millionth of one percent, in most cases life and the very matter of the universe would simply not be able to exist.
Gravitational Constant
Let’s take the gravitational constant as an example – the force that holds us to the surface of our planet and holds the physical matter of our planet together and keeps our planet orbiting our sun and holds our sun and billions of other stars in orbit around our galactic core. If the gravitational constant – if the force of gravity was either increased or decreased by 1 part in 1060 of its current value, matter itself could not exist – our universe could not exist.
Cosmological Constant
Let’s look at another example: the Cosmological Constant. This is the value of the energy density of our space-time continuum, which plays a stabilising role in the rate of expansion of the universe and which Einstein correctly identified in his theory of general relativity. Scientists estimate if the Cosmological Constant was altered by even 1 part in 10120 of its current value, matter could not exist.
To give you an idea of how astronomically precise this value is, imagine a ruler that spans the entire length of the known universe – not just billions of kilometres but billions of light years in length. And imagine that the ruler is divided into increments of not just centimetres or even millimetres, but billionths of a millimetre. The increments of that ruler represent all the possible values or strengths that the cosmological constant could have. And the actual value of the cosmological constant, which allows the universe to exists, sits at one of those very precise points. If its strength or value was either increased or decreased by just one billionth of a millimetre on that vast ruler, the physical universe would not be able to exist.
I’ve just mentioned two of the cosmological constants. But there are 34 of them. And if the strength of ANY one of them were altered by even one trillionth of one percent, all life would cease and the physical universe would not be possible. Atoms would fly apart or implode and we would simply not exist. The fact is that the forces that govern the existence of our universe are balanced not just on a razor’s edge, but on the edge of a razor which is balanced on the edge of another razor which is balanced on another razor – 34 times!
The late great Stephen Hawking stated: “The remarkable fact is that these values seem to have been very finely adjusted to make life possible.”
And Dr David Deutsch stated: “This fine tuning is surprising and astonishingly unlikely.”
So how do we explain the incredible fine tuning of the fundamental forces of our universe? There are only 3 possible explanations:
- Physical necessity
- Chance
- Intelligent design
Let’s examine each one separately.
PHYSICAL NECESSITY.
This is the argument that says that each of these forces could ONLY exist at those precise measurements – that it is impossible for them to have had any other values. But there is NO evidence that this is the case. Each of these forces could have had ANY random value on an infinite spectrum of values if they were the product of random processes.
So that argument simply doesn’t wash.
WHAT ABOUT CHANCE?
Could all 34 of these co-dependent cosmological constants have come into existence by random chance at each of their finely tuned values?
Robin Collins (Prof. Theoretical Physics, North Western University): “The chance of just two of these cosmological constants developing by sheer chance, is one in 100 million trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion. That’s more than the number of atoms in the universe! And that’s just TWO of the constants!”
In other words it is statistical nonsense – it’s a probabilistic fairy tale to think that the cosmological constants all arrived at their precise values by random chance. And of course, there aren’t just two cosmological constants – there are 34. And it has been estimated that the probability of all 34 constants developing simultaneously by chance is 1 in 10600
That’s a 1 with 600 zeros after it.
Just to show you how ridiculously impossible this statistical chance is … Imagine you have 10(600) white ping pong balls – that’s the number of atoms in our universe multiplied by 10(520) further universes. Suppose, also, that you put one black ball somewhere in the middle of all the white balls. Then you blindfold a person and put him in a space ship and get him to fly through the middle of all these balls (and it would take quizillions of years flying at the speed of light to fly even a tiny fraction of the distance into that mass of balls the size of quizillions of our universes! ) … And then you tell him to stop at a random place and wind down the window (as you do in a spaceship) and stick his hand out the window and grab the first ball his hand closes around and have a look at it and see if it’s the black one. That’s the probability of all these constants developing to their precise measurements and values by pure chance.
This astonishingly unlikely probability prompted Dr Paul Davies (Prof. Theoretical Physics, Arizona State University) to write
“The physical universe is put together with an ingenuity that is so astonishing, with physical constants that are so impossibly perfect, that I can no longer accept it as the product of brute chance … There is, for me, powerful evidence that there is something going on behind it all … as though somebody has fine-tuned nature’s numbers to make the universe … the impression of design is overwhelming.”
He also writes:
“Scientists are slowly waking up to an inconvenient truth: the universe looks suspiciously like a fix. The issue concerns the very laws of nature themselves. For 40 years, physicists and cosmologists have been quietly collecting examples of the all too convenient ‘coincidences’ and special features in the underlying laws of the universe that seem to be necessary in order for life to exist, and hence conscious beings to exist. Change any one of them and the consequences would be lethal.”
INTELLIGENT DESIGN
If it didn’t come about by chance, then the only remaining possibility is Intelligent Design. That this incredible universe was intricately designed and marvellously created by an all-powerful intelligent being – God!
Quoting Professor Fred Hoyle again, he wrote:
“A common sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a super-intellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as with chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature. The numbers one calculates from the facts seem to me so overwhelming as to put this conclusion almost beyond question.”
He’s right. The numbers one calculates DO put this question beyond all reasonable doubt. There IS a supremely intelligent and all-powerful designer behind this incredibly finely-tuned universe. And what Fred Hoyle refers to as “a super-intellect”, the Bible simply calls, God.
For more information on any of these topics, you can check out my books, which are available on my website, smartfaith.net, where you can also subscribe to my weekly blog.
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