Friday, April 22, 2011

The Many Universes Objection

The Fine Tuning Argument
The fact that the universe is perfectly suited for human life is proof that is was designed by an ultimate Creator just for us.
This is a pretty cool idea. I mean, there are millions of "dials" that control millions of "settings" like gravity and weak nuclear force and stuff. If one dial moved an infinitely small amount one way or another, atoms wouldn't be able to form or life bigger than a deer couldn't exist.
That's pretty cool if you ask me. I mean, it's a flawed but elegantly and beautifully flawed universe that we live in. Not just our galaxy, but the entire universe is legit.
Your gut reaction when thinking about this is "Man, God is a genius."

The Many Universes Objection
Now there are people who say that's ridiculous. And then you say, "Why is that so ridiculous?" Then they'll say, "Because there are an infinite number of universes with every single possible "dial setting" in motion. This is not a linear thought either. There are an infinite number of universes right now that have every combination of settings and who knows what goes on there? We can't reach them, or they'd be part of our universe. We can't even guess what goes on in those universes. Not even Ray Bradbury has that good of an imagination. Life could appear at any one of them in ways we don't understand. And if there are an infinite number of universes all experimenting with natural forces and laws, it's extremely likely that you'll get one that supports life. Ours, for example. We're just another experiment gone right.

In the words of philosophybro:
'Of course, we can't get to these worlds, otherwise they'd be part of our world; they're completely isolated from our world in every way. "But surely our world is the real world?'' Fuck you. They're all real. You're not special and neither is your world - I have no clue what it would be like for them to be 'imaginary.' The only world I have any experience of is this one, and it's as real and concrete as can be. I bet they are too.'

What I Think

I'll be frank. It's going to take just as much faith to believe in these other universes that we can't see or touch or experience as it's going to take to believe in a Creator. It's Buridan's ass all over again. Both are super legit. And you know what? Both are really freaking cool. I love the idea of an uncountable number of universes with all sorts of crazy stuff going on with physics and stuff just as much as I love the idea of a God engaged in a way cool science experiment. And you know what? If he's omnipotent, screw it, he could be making all of these universes. If anybody can do that, it's Him. And I bet He's having a blast doing it.

Multiple universes? Bring it on, that sounds awesome. Divine, all knowing, all loving God? Hell yeah.

(Expect more of this. I am loving philosophy and philosophybro.)

1 comment:

  1. Evie, I love that you can use "super legit" in a serious philosophical discussion and actually make it work! You are the best!

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