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The fine tuning of the universe.

JaneC

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Why in your opinion was the universe fine tuned?
It is not my opinion. It is a scientific phenomena.
There was no need for that a simple "I don't know" would have sufficed, I expect you're frightened.

Rather sooner than later I suppose, one post and I've had my first and last contact with Oncedeceive.
 
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Bugeyedcreepy

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Right, right like thunder and Thor. Very unconvincing to believers. The more science discovers the more it fits with Theism than naturalism.
Of Course! Then again, if I believed in Universe creating Pixies, then Universe Creating Pixies would be a better fit than Naturalism. The thing is, Naturalism better explains the facts because of the Evidence.
This is all Waffle. At no stage did I talk about "Before" the Big Bang. Again, the Scientific Consensus = Everything that this Universe is, was there at the beginning of this Universe. What Scientific source can you point to that says this Universe started with Nothing? btw, this isn't a scientific paper... adequate as it might be.
Walk with me. We've measured these constants. Have they changed? No. Have we been able to change them? No. Do we know if they could be different? No. Do we know if they have to be set at the beginning of the Universe? No. What foundation do you have to leap from these data points, to "God dunnit!". That the most knowledgeable in these fields tend towards Atheists for the vast majority in the face of these facts, is somehow not registering with you, is not even stunning anymore.

I can easily say that We, Life, is fine tuned to exist in this Universe. Now, this would actually be more accurate. As has been pointed out elsewhere ad-infinitum, If the Multiverse is the cause, there will be some other form of life in some other Universe that looks very different to Life Here, but is equally fine tuned to exist in THAT Universe. They too will be pondering how their universe is so fine-tuned as to allow their form of life to exist, and that other universes like Ours are completely incompatible with their forms of life, and therefore a select few of them will be positing as 100% fact that their Eternal-Wobbly-Ectoplasm is their alleged Universe Creator. In fact, if you believe in Heaven and Hell, then you already believe a form of this to be True - after all, Life in Heaven/Hell is completely detached and isolated (just like some other Universe) and not dependent on the same physical body you have here...
Again, We still don't know that these constants COULD be different.
Well you certainly are free to think that but of course the experts in the field disagree.
No actually, they don't. They talk about this as a philosophical point, because we Don't know if these constants could be different. The only people putting it forward as fact are Creationists.
Okay, then let me say that your evidence of a fine tuner is better explained by my Universe Creating Pixies. My Universe Creating Pixies don't have a Bible that contradicts itself & requires interpreting with a pre-conceived bias. Also, They're Cute and non-interfering to boot. They don't condone slavery, nor do they go on genocidal rampages, nor do they expect me to pay tithe to an Earthly representative who wants to tell me what to do in their name, let alone fragment into 40,000 slightly varying, and occasionally incompatible sects that argue about those allegedly "non-existant" contradictions in their bible.
Yes, it does. But the Fine Tuner is not physical. So He doesn't need the physical world to exist.
How do you know this? In the Old Testament, YHWH wandered around the yard on occasions with Adam & Eve. What if it is that another Universes' form of life is not physical in form? Perhaps it's so unique that it has the ability to create other Universes in parallel to their own? Perhaps that's what gave rise to a form of life you mistake as a God? Given a Multiverse could be possible, that explanation might very well have better support for it than yours. This, and the Universe Creating Pixies I mentioned earlier, all have as much evidence going for them as your proposition does, short of the anthropic principle which (together with the Multiverse hypothesis) is by far the most supported with what we know.
 
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Oncedeceived

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No, We Don't! Citation Again Please!
Translated into statements about the real universe, I am describing an origin in which space itself comes into existence at the big bang and expands from nothing to form a larger and larger volume. The matter and energy content of the universe likewise originates at or near the beginning, and populates the universe everywhere at all times. Again, I must stress that the speck from which space emerges is not located in anything. It is not an object surrounded by emptiness. It is the origin of space itself, infinitely compressed. Note that the speck does not sit there for an infinite duration. It appears instantaneously from nothing and immediately expands. This is why the question of why it does not collapse to a black hole is irrelevant. Indeed, according to the theory of relativity, there is no possibility of the speck existing through time because time itself begins at this point.

http://boingboing.net/2014/05/20/what-came-before-the-big-bang.html
 
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Oncedeceived

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Of Course! Then again, if I believed in Universe creating Pixies, then Universe Creating Pixies would be a better fit than Naturalism. The thing is, Naturalism better explains the facts because of the Evidence.
Then explain how naturalism explains it better than theism. So far I don't believe anyone is claiming that pixies can create universes and I've not ever met anyone that actually believes pixies exist.

Paul Davies is a top scientist in the field.

Translated into statements about the real universe, I am describing an origin in which space itself comes into existence at the big bang and expands from nothing to form a larger and larger volume. The matter and energy content of the universe likewise originates at or near the beginning, and populates the universe everywhere at all times. Again, I must stress that thespeck from which space emerges is not located in anything. It is not an object surrounded by emptiness. It is the origin of space itself, infinitely compressed. Note that the speck does not sit there for an infinite duration. It appears instantaneously from nothing and immediately expands. This is why the question of why it does not collapse to a black hole is irrelevant. Indeed, according to the theory of relativity, there is no possibility of the speck existing through time because time itself begins at this point.

http://boingboing.net/2014/05/20/what-came-before-the-big-bang.html


Walk with me. We've measured these constants. Have they changed? No. Have we been able to change them? No. Do we know if they could be different? No.
1. Have they changed: NO.
2. Have we been able to change them: No however, scientists can change them in computer models.
3. Do we know if they could be different: No. however, we don't have any reason to believe that they couldn't.

Do we know if they have to be set at the beginning of the Universe? No.
4. Do we know if they have to be set at the beginning of the universe: Yes.
If not the universe would not exist. The expansion energy of the Big Bang, the overall amount of matter that was present and the ratio of matter to antimatter, the initial rate of the universe's expansion and the degree of entropy are all necessary right at the beginning to mention a few.

Well that isn't true. Most acknowledge the intelligence of the system. Many of the most knowledgeable have become desists or theists, while many just hope for a good naturalistic reason for it all.

No, because the universe had to be what it is to permit life to exist. If the multiverse exists, and if other life exists then where did the constants that permit those universe to exist and for life to exist in them. The universe generator if natural, needs to be fine tuned to allow fine tuning of all universes.

The multiverse depends on something if it is nature and has a cause. In the natural world there is cause and effect.

Again, We still don't know that these constants COULD be different.
So? Tell me why this would make a difference and that it would eliminate fine tuning.

No actually, they don't. They talk about this as a philosophical point, because we Don't know if these constants could be different. The only people putting it forward as fact are Creationists.
FALSE. Do you think those who have PhD's in the field are all creationists? Of course you don't but they aren't sitting on their hands and saying well we don't know if these constants could be different so fine tuning is a moot point. They don't believe that because they know there has to be a reason that they couldn't be different and they don't have one. Maybe they will discover some underlying law that would prohibit the constants from being anything but what they are but then what of that Law? What would make that fine tuned law only allow life permitting constants?


The fact that you don't like the Theist's God is no argument against fine tuning by a fine tuner.

Anthropic principle isn't an explanation, it is an observation.
 
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Oncedeceived

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I agree, the poster makes a blanket claim without evidence.

The poster really has to though, to protect their belief.

Translated into statements about the real universe, I am describing an origin in which space itself comes into existence at the big bang and expands from nothing to form a larger and larger volume. The matter and energy content of the universe likewise originates at or near the beginning, and populates the universe everywhere at all times. Again, I must stress that thespeck from which space emerges is not located in anything. It is not an object surrounded by emptiness. It is the origin of space itself, infinitely compressed. Note that the speck does not sit there for an infinite duration. It appears instantaneously from nothing and immediately expands. This is why the question of why it does not collapse to a black hole is irrelevant. Indeed, according to the theory of relativity, there is no possibility of the speck existing through time because time itself begins at this point.

http://boingboing.net/2014/05/20/what-came-before-the-big-bang.html
 
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Bugeyedcreepy

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You keep making claims about the starting conditions of our Universe. At best, we can within a few plancks of the origin, but that's it, nothing about T=0 (let alone outside our Universe) because everything we know stops being accurate there.
We have NO EVIDENCE for a God. We are however bathed in a naturalistic Universe for which we've been able to discover a great many things... This is how we've come to the greatest preponderance of knowledge we have now, by studying and accurately modeling within this naturalistic Universe. We've not been able to use anything we know about any religion to further our collective knowledge, and in fact, Theism has done a great many things to destroy this knowledge over the centuries. Why on earth would we want to depart from a proven working method of discovering knowledge to your presupposition about how this Universe came to be?
 
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Bugeyedcreepy

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You are claiming the fine tuning for intelligent life, a scientific claim is fallacious nonsense and ignorant? Tsk Tsk. Provide documentation that fine tuning for intelligent life is fallacious nonsense and ignorance.
Why don't you provide evidence that fine tuning for intelligent life is actual in the first place. Personal opinions and philosophical discussions does not equal scientific consensus.
Unless you can show 1. That they couldn't be different and 2. That it would eliminate fine tuning even if they couldn't, fine tuning is not eliminated.
Why don't you first show 1. that they CAN be different, and 2. that fine tuning is required, or that there are not enough universes that one would just happen to have the exact constants required for intelligent life as we know it. So far, we have 1 out of 1 Universes that supports intelligent life.
I've seen nothing that refutes God as the best explanation for fine tuning.
I have seen nothing in the way of actual evidence that supports a God of any kind in the first place.
Its simply true. Multiverse just pushes the fine tuning back to the universe generator.
....If we can get That Far, then we can start working on that problem with as little presupposing magic invisible entities as we study the current problems, i.e. using the Scientific Method. This is demonstrably by Far the most productive way to handle these problems.
 
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Bugeyedcreepy

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I've quoted non-believers, Deists, Christians, secular scientists and agnostics. They claim fine tuning for intelligent life is real.
Only Deists/Theists would claim this. The overwhelming majority (and of course this is the current Scientific Consensus btw...) wouldn't go any further than to say "the Universe appears to be fine tuned." That's It! Nothing about"...to support life", let alone "...for Intelligent Life", etc. that you're trying to put forward.
 
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Bugeyedcreepy

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As I mentioned earlier, this is a layman's quick five on the Big Bang. It isn't scientifically accurate because of constraints on the audience, and brevity restrictions I'd imagine, and is not meant to be anything more than a primer for the average person to understand the basics, therefore, there's some use of not entirely accurate descriptors. Here's an explanation of "Nothing" by Lawrence Krauss:

"In the modern universe it’s a boiling, bubbling brew of virtual particles popping in and out of existence on a timescale so short you can’t see them. So there’s nothing there but actually lots of stuff is happening. You just can’t see it, and that kind of nothing, one of the remarkable things we’ve learned is that kind of nothing is unstable. Empty space is unstable." - http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/en...from-nothing_n_1681113.html?section=australia

...so Nothing isn't necessarily the nothing you seem to think it is.
 
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Bugeyedcreepy

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Then explain how naturalism explains it better than theism. So far I don't believe anyone is claiming that pixies can create universes and I've not ever met anyone that actually believes pixies exist.
Universe creating Pixies aren't self-obsessed, in fact, they are so humble that they prefer not to be seen & take on a Deistic role in this Universe.
1. Have they changed: NO.
2. Have we been able to change them: No however, scientists can change them in computer models.
I can change gravity to be a Repelling force in my computer model, and I'm not even a Scientist. Do you think my being able to imagine such a thing means there's now a fine tuner within this Universe?
3. Do we know if they could be different: No. however, we don't have any reason to believe that they couldn't.
Yes we do have reason, We can measure them, they're constant and we can't change them. That's EXACTLY why we have reason to believe that they couldn't be different.
No, No we don't! All of these constants could very well be properties inherent in the distillate energy & matter from the big bang. Can you rule that out?
Well that isn't true. Most acknowledge the intelligence of the system. Many of the most knowledgeable have become desists or theists, while many just hope for a good naturalistic reason for it all.
I don't accept this. Show me a Scientist who has become a Deist or Theist because of this Fine Tuning argument. Why is the Scientific Consensus not in agreement with you?
What nonsense. If I rolled a pair of dice a million times, are those results fine tuned? Whatever process by which universes come about in a multiverse setting, Doesn't have to be fine tuned to give rise to one like this one eventually. It just so happens that we're here to enjoy this universe because we wouldn't exist in our current form using other universe's constants.
The multiverse depends on something if it is nature and has a cause. In the natural world there is cause and effect.
Quantum fluctuations are natural. What is the cause of Quantum Fluctuations? After all, these are considered to be a principle consideration in the formation of our universe.
So? Tell me why this would make a difference and that it would eliminate fine tuning.
If they're an inherent property of the fallout from the Big Bang and its resulting condensate matter, then no fine tuning happens. Simple.
How is it you're missing this? Scientist, at Best, talk about how it Appears fine tuned to allow life. "Appears fine tuned" Does NOT Equal "Is fine tuned". Rubbish about what they do or don't believe, You haven't shown any Scientist that changed their view on this. What is shown by the Evidence is that these constants don't change. We can model hypothetical different constants, but this still doesn't mean they can be different, let alone fine tuned.
The fact that you don't like the Theist's God is no argument against fine tuning by a fine tuner.
I don't believe fine tuning is actual, let alone a fine tuner.... and then your particular version of a fine tuner.
Anthropic principle isn't an explanation, it is an observation.
...and in that case, that's the only observation we have.
 
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Oncedeceived

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You keep making claims about the starting conditions of our Universe. At best, we can within a few plancks of the origin, but that's it, nothing about T=0 (let alone outside our Universe) because everything we know stops being accurate there.
I'm not the one making the claims, I have given you a link from Paul Davies who very clearly says that the singularity came from nothing. You are ignoring what he is saying and here is another source:

Back in the late '60s and early '70s, when men first walked upon the moon, "three British astrophysicists, Steven Hawking, George Ellis, and Roger Penrose turned their attention to the Theory of Relativity and its implications regarding our notions of time. In 1968 and 1970, they published papers in which they extended Einstein's Theory of General Relativity to include measurements of time and space.1, 2 According to their calculations, time and space had a finite beginning that corresponded to the origin of matter and energy."3The singularity didn't appear in space; rather, space began inside of the singularity. Prior to the singularity, nothing existed, not space, time, matter, or energy - nothing. So where and in what did the singularity appear if not in space? We don't know. We don't know where it came from, why it's here, or even where it is. All we really know is that we are inside of it and at one time it didn't exist and neither did we. Emphasis mine.

We have NO EVIDENCE for a God.
Millions have evidence of God, you have no evidence of God.

This is wrong, science was developed in a Christian framework. If not for the location of this universe science could never work. "Part of the fine tuning".
 
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Bugeyedcreepy

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I've read Paul Davies opinion pieces, they're fringe beliefs at the least and he's drawn the ire of the general Scientific Community many times because he involves his personal religious beliefs. This isn't how Science is done. As many Cosmologists will tell you, we're struggling to get back to the Planck Time just after the Big Bang in unraveling what happened, let alone knowing what conditions gave rise to the Universe in the first place... Everything at & prior the Big Bang is just philosophical & theoretical. We know NOTHING as fact about it. And by the way, the references you quote here talking about "before" the big bang (non-sensical) is from a thinly disguised pseudo-science (read:creationist) website referring to a philosophy & faith publication by Mark Eastman and Chuck Missler called "The Creator: Beyond Time and Space", hardly a scientific source. Remember, before the Big Bang is like north of the North Pole - nonsensical.
Millions have evidence of God, you have no evidence of God.
Well, I remain unconvinced. What evidence is there for God that would actually stand up as Scientific Evidence?
This is wrong, science was developed in a Christian framework. If not for the location of this universe science could never work. "Part of the fine tuning".
It would seem Science and Fundamentalist Religion have gone through an ugly break-up then, because they're barely on talking terms since Science started revealing actual knowledge...
 
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Oncedeceived

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I've read Paul Davies opinion pieces, they're fringe beliefs at the least and he's drawn the ire of the general Scientific Community many times because he involves his personal religious beliefs.
Provide any documentation for this accusation. Paul Davies is considered one of the top in the field and actually doesn't provide any religious beliefs in his scientific work that I am aware of. What fringe beliefs are you referring to? Provide citations please.

Are you saying that we can't know what happened in the trillionth of a trillionth of second prior to space, matter, energy and time coming to being...I agree because there is nothing prior to that to speak of in terms of what we see after space, matter, energy and time come into being.


I've not provided any sources from these two. My source that stated that was Paul Davies (referencing Stephen Hawking).

Again, this science vs. religion is relatively new.
 
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Bugeyedcreepy

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From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Davies ,

"An opinion piece published in the New York Times,[8] generated controversy over its exploration of the role of faith in scientific inquiry. Davies argued that the faith scientists have in the immutability of physical laws has origins in Christian theology, and that the claim that science is "free of faith" is "manifestly bogus."[8] The Edge Foundation presented a criticism of Davies' article written by Jerry Coyne, Nathan Myhrvold, Lawrence Krauss, Scott Atran, Sean Carroll, Jeremy Bernstein, PZ Myers, Lee Smolin, John Horgan, Alan Sokal and a response by Davies beginning I was dismayed at how many of my detractors completely misunderstood what I had written. Indeed, their responses bore the hallmarks of a superficial knee-jerk reaction to the sight of the words "science" and "faith" juxtaposed.[9] While atheists Richard Dawkins[10] and Victor J. Stenger[11] have criticised Davies' public stance on science and religion, others including the John Templeton Foundation, have praised his work.

[8] http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/24/opinion/24davies.html?_r=0
[9] https://www.edge.org/discourse/science_faith.html
[10] Richard Dawkins (2006). "A Deeply Religious Non-Believer". The God Delusion.
[11] Victor J Stenger Dead Link!

I'm not sure he ever involved his religious position in any peer reviewed paper though... but that isn't what I said anyhoo.
Yes, I agree.
I've not provided any sources from these two. My source that stated that was Paul Davies (referencing Stephen Hawking).
I'm not sure where you got your quote from so I went looking, and found it at http://www.big-bang-theory.com/ - which turns out to be a Creationist/Intelligent Design pseudo-scientific website.
Again, this science vs. religion is relatively new.
I guess if you think Galileo's house arrest in 1633 for supporting Heliocentrism in contradiction to the Church's position is relatively new, sure.
 
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