A Universe Fine Tuned for Life

 

Last Christmas season, my wife and I were invited to a party at a friend’s home. We met several people including a young man that was a physics professor with a PhD in physics. I engaged him in conversation about the universe by asking him a series of questions. For example, I ask him “How do you think the universe came into existence?” His answer was predictable. He answered that it all started in the Big Bang about 14 billion years ago. Then I ask him “What was the cause of the Big Bang?” His answer was that he did not know and as far as he knew, no one did. When we started talking about evolution and I asked him “From what did protons, neutrons and electrons evolve”, he got a concerned look on his face and he changed the subject.

In the book The Privileged Planet, the authors show, by statistical analysis, that the universe is fine tuned for life and the odds that life exists in this universe is almost negligible. In other words, the conditions in the universe necessary for life to exist are very complex to the point that except for a Designer, we could not be here. A couple of examples of the conditions needed for life are the values of gravity and the electromagnetic force.  These are the only two forces in the universe except for the strong and weak nuclear forces-forces that we mere mortals cannot personally observe.

When I used to teach mechanical engineering at the University of Louisville in the 1980’s, the first thing I would always share with my class was the formula for the value of gravity- F=G x m1 x m2/r squared. I explained that the “F” stood for the force due to gravity and the “m1 & m2” represented two masses in the universe such as a human being and the earth and the “r” was the distance between the 2 masses. The only symbol that doesn’t represent anything tangible is the “G”. This is the fudge factor inserted into the equation to make everything work in the computation.  The value of “G” is 0.0000000000667384.  I then ask the class “Why is that the value?” Science did not decide the value; science observed the value. Who designed the value? A similar philosophical analysis can be made concerning the formula for the electromagnetic force between two electrically charged bodies and the constant “k”.

Getting back to the conditions necessary for life, if these constants were only slightly different values life would not be possible in the universe. In the book, The Privileged Planet, there are 20 other factors necessary for life detailed and discussed. The Truth is, science is not a participant in nature, it is only an observer and may I add a somewhat less than enlightened observer. It does take some intellect to observe God’s handiwork but it takes arrogance to try to eliminate Him from the formula.

I leave you with Psalm 19: 1-4

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.
 They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them.
 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.

“Then you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free.” John 8: 32.