expressed in Psalm 151. (There are 150 Psalms in the Holy Bible.)
Listen, all ye who are able to hear...
- The universe of space, time and energy emerged from nothingness as a Big Bang about 13 billion years ago with all its laws of physics and physical constants in place to permit life.
- The universe started with precisely the right balance between order and chaos to allow the galaxies, stars, planets and life itself to evolve.
- The universe was destined to evolve in an ordered, directional way, from a point to the structured expanse we see today.
- The physical constants which govern the cosmological expansion rate, the strength of gravitational, nuclear and electromagnetic forces, and much else, were fixed at the time of the Big Bang and are fine tuned to a hair’s breadth to make biological organisms possible. E.g. the constant governing the strength of weak nuclear forces is fine tuned to 100 decimal places. Had these constants been slightly different there would be no life.
- The 92 elements of the periodic table were progressively, systematically manufactured over billions of years, mostly in stars, and all these were needed to build the world we know today. The human body alone has 60 of these.
- The sun is 400x the diameter of the moon and 400x the distance. In the sky they look identical in size. This allowed the sentient beings of Earth to witness solar eclipses not possible anywhere else in the universe we know about, thus stimulating our curiosity and allowing us to discover helium via spectroscopy of the sun’s atmosphere before it was found on the Earth.
- The moon is just the right mass and distance from earth to spin stabilise its axial rotation and provide smooth, rhythmic tidal movement, both instrumental, if not crucial, to life’s evolution.
- The information-rich, staggeringly diverse biosphere emerged out of a chaotic and unpleasant environment over some 4 billion years.
- The sky on Earth is clear enough to allow its sentient beings to see the universe and be inspired by it. As telescopes were invented it became apparent that the universe was vast beyond previous imaginings and that our rare position in the galaxy enables us to see the universe right back to its centre and origin.
- The Earth has the axial tilt, orbital characteristics, rotational stability, temperature, plate tectonics, size, mass, oceans, magnetic field and atmosphere which allowed life to get a hold and evolve
- The Earth is so placed in the solar system as to be shielded from comet bombardment by Jupiter and from frequent asteroid bombardment by Jupiter, Mars and Venus. Other planets are not so protected.
- Over the 4 billion year history of the Earth mass extinctions due to volcanoes and impacts have allowed evolution to proceed to sentient, cosmos-aware, curious beings.
- If conscious beings had not started at this stage in the accelerating expansion of the universe the sky they witnessed would either be a bright, featureless expanse of light at all times (because the stars would be too close) or totally devoid of any stars (because they would be too far away and moving too fast). Humankind came on the scene at just the right time to be able to peer back to the very beginning of the universe and witness the wonders of creation.
Why? Chance
- The solar system appears to have choreographed the formation of our planet and given us unique conditions and materials to permit the creation of life and the building of civilization.
Why? Chance
- The Earth’s surface is protected from life damaging cosmic rays and solar radiation by its magnetic field (the Van Allen Belts) and from ultraviolet sunlight by the Ozone layer. Other planets are not.
- Life was miraculously complex and intelligent from its very beginning as bacteria only 200 million years after the planet was created.
- Humans consisting almost entirely of energy configurations in vacuum, as do all apparently solid entities, have come into being able and thirsting to delve into the manifold secrets of the universe and the nature of their own being.
- Water expands instead of contracts as it is cooled the last 4 deg C above freezing point, while still in liquid form. Without this expansion the oceans would now be solid ice and the planet would be largely, if not wholly, lifeless. No other liquid has this property.
- Water is transparent at the same wavelength as the yellowish sunlight which illuminates the Earth, thus allowing undersea creatures to see around them and evolve their vision systems. (Any other colour of sunlight would have rendered undersea vision impossible or much reduced.)
- Sentient beings with eyes and minds perceive the universe and so, in a sense, bring it into existence, with themselves as the conceptual centre and reference point.
- Life over billions of years evolved a rich and benevolent biosphere, a Garden of Eden into which Homo sapiens emerged a few tens of thousands of years ago. The intelligence and creative power to make the biosphere were there, presumably, from the first bacteria.
- According to the latest research in quantum biology (post 2007) and epigenetics (post 2000) it looks very much as though the whole biosphere is a learning system imbued with intelligence and purpose right down to the biomolecular and sub-cellular level. The universe must have been created with infinite computing power and cosmic purpose.
Why? Chance.
- Homo sapiens have a highly developed sense of self, a rich imagination, hands able to finely manipulate and write, a vocal system suitable for sophisticated communication, intelligence to make tools, the ability to heal and care for the sick, the desire to do this for both humans and animals, the ability to grow crops and farm livestock, the ability to make computers, a relentless curiosity about origins and destiny, the ability to explore other celestial bodies, the desire to do this, an inbuilt conscience, free will the ability to choose between good and evil, a need for love, an awareness of beauty, a desire for justice and a sense that there is life after physical death.
The writer of Psalm 151 would like to apologise to the great random event generator beyond space-time lest he hath overlooked in his ignorance any
other marvellous examples of the all pervasiveness of Chance.
See also
Life, enzymes and big numbers
Evolution is progress
Fighting fatalism
Our precious planet
Is there meaning behind random events?
The five-fold threat to science
Are some scientists from the planet vulcan?
Chimpanzees and a free lunch
Distorting reality
Jean Paul Sartre: not the way to Peace on Earth
Life, enzymes and big numbers
Evolution is progress
Our precious planet
Is there meaning behind random events?
The five-fold threat to science
Are some scientists from the planet vulcan?
Chimpanzees and a free lunch
Distorting reality
Jean Paul Sartre: not the way to Peace on Earth
1984: collective post-modernism
Infinity, eternity and cosmology
John
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