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What Is Anthropic Reasoning?Why does the universe exist? |
By Gabriel Gache, Science News Editor
9th of February 2008, 11:50 GMT
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Divine intervention versus random processes in the universe and the question why. Why are we here, why does the universe exist and, mostly, why is it the way we see it today? The most likely answer that one can get from a physicist is that the universe is the way it is, because if it wasn't, then we wouldn't be here to experience it. Makes no sense, doesn't it? Anthropic reasoning postulates that the universe is tuned perfectly for the existence of life and to explain a series of phenomenons that would otherwise be unexplainable. If you understand this particular paragraph, then you are probably already trying to find an answer for what this strange world we are living in really is.
On the other hand, Case Western Reserve University researchers, testing the
explanation for anthropic reasoning, say that the whole anthropic principle is mostly based on pseudoscience than on scientific reasoning. We are not yet capable to observe all the properties of the universe, in order to ask ourselves these questions.
Anthropic reasoning implies that the existence of intelligent life in the universe is due to the fact that the universe has the precise conditions to allow the appearance of life. That may be a good explanation for most of us, however the theory is flawed right from the beginning. According to measurements, the cosmological constant related to the density of energy in the universe is just right for the universe not to suffer a collapse or a big rip, permitting the formation of structures such as galaxy cluster, galaxies and planets, so that life may eventually appear and evolve, and thus the universe couldn't exist in any other form.
Nice to know such information, but this would mean that we are a typical life form in the universe, fact that cannot be demonstrated. Case researchers proposed a parameter space that consists of all the possible parallel universes with different cosmological constants, after which they tried to determine the probability of that universe being suitable for life. How can one determine such parameter when we don't yet understand all the processes that take place in the universe? - Case researchers ask. How can one explain what he cannot observe?
What we know today is that we are the only life forms in the universe, but that doesn't necessarily mean that we are alone. Drake himself showed that, depending on random processes in the universe, life can exist only on Earth, or on billions of other planets. The fact that we cannot prove that there are other life forms in the universe is another deal and has nothing to do with anthropic reasoning.
Only when man will be able to show the extent on life in the universe, we may find the exact cosmological parameters which led to our creation. Researching a single sample in the universe would not provide enough information to approximate the parameter space, would it?
Thus, by presuming that we, as humans, are a typical life form, the connection between the cosmological constant and the existence of life immediately breaks. On the other hand, Case researchers write that the fact that we do exist is a pretty good indicator that the approximation of the cosmological constant is correct, a hardly surprising scientific observation, they say.
Nonetheless, the paradoxes don't stop here, such as the questions regarding why are the parameters of the universe suitable for life; and the list could go on forever and ever. It's just a matter of philosophy and methodology, in our quest to know more and more about the world we are living in, which will most likely take us nowhere.
It's like asking ourselves why is the proton heavier that the electron, or the planet Jupiter larger than Earth; these questions do not present fundamental value, and are determined by probabilistic distribution. Just because we can't explain a process doesn't mean that it didn't take place, and from time to time there may appear things that are practically impossible to explain. Only by discovering the theory of everything, we may finally discover what is left to discover about the universe.
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