(August 9, 2015 at 9:21 pm)Pyrrho Wrote:(August 9, 2015 at 9:15 pm)vixene Wrote: Interesting analogy however it didn't make the argument any clearer to me...
If you want to understand the argument, take a look at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fine-tuned_Universe
The first part deals with what is meant by "fine-tuning" and then later on down the page is the religious twaddle about it, along with arguments against the twaddle.
(August 9, 2015 at 9:23 pm)Alex K Wrote:Thanks for clearing that up, I've actually heard of this argument and probably used it while I was still a christian XD.(August 9, 2015 at 9:15 pm)vixene Wrote: Interesting analogy however it didn't make the argument any clearer to me...
The argument, if you're unfamiliar with it, is basically this: If for example the energies of certain nuclear processes were just a bit heavier, the reactions couldn't take place, there would be no stars and therefore no heavy elements beyond hydrogen or helium. Similar or more severe things can be said for many other constants of nature. So can it really be a coincidence that all these laws of nature line up to allow for complex organisms and thus intelligence? Seems super unlikely, so there must have been a big sky daddy who turned the knobs such that the laws of nature were juuuuuuuust right.
The first big challenge this argument meets is that it is invalid to demand exactly our kind of life to be possible - you have to argue that no conceivable other kind of intelligence can arise if those numbers were different. But if you manage that, it is still questionable if the claimed conclusion even follows.
Ah, it feels great not being brainwashed.
