Back to Home

God & Science Forum Message

Forums: Atm · Astrophotography · Blackholes · Blackholes2 · CCD · Celestron · Domes · Education
Eyepieces · Meade · Misc. · God and Science · SETI · Software · UFO · XEphem
RSS Button

Home | Discussion Forums | God and Science | Post
Login

Be the first pioneers to continue the Astronomy Discussions at our new Astronomy meeting place...
The Space and Astronomy Agora
Do You Mean Your Logic, Or Mine?

Forum List | Follow Ups | Post Message | Back to Thread Topics | In Response To
Posted by Harvey on November 6, 2001 19:56:36 UTC

Alex,

If we can show that quantum effects have effected the macro evolution of the universe, and if we can show that there isn't some mathematical requirement (that we know of) that would require our specific universe to emerge, then we can say that it is *likely* that our universe is the result of SAP (strong anthropic principle)conditions.

Now, what does that mean? It means that we might be able to establish SAP principles as being effective in the course of evolution, but it does not mean that the universe is purely the consequence of random occurrence (any more than human evolution indicates biological intelligence is the result of purely random occurrence). To establish that the universe is purely the consequence of random occurrence (i.e., no divine influence) we would have to establish that the quantum laws are themselves a result of pure randomness. For example, if we could show that there existed an infinite number of worlds with different laws of QM that were itself not guided by some normative set of laws, then we would just about rule out any divine influence whatsoever. That is, what is key to atheism is being able to eliminate mathematical realism. I don't think that is so easy to do given the nature of the universe that we observe.

Warm regards, Harv

Follow Ups:

Login to Post
Additional Information
Google
 
Web www.astronomy.net
DayNightLine
About Astronomy Net | Advertise on Astronomy Net | Contact & Comments | Privacy Policy
Unless otherwise specified, web site content Copyright 1994-2024 John Huggins All Rights Reserved
Forum posts are Copyright their authors as specified in the heading above the post.
"dbHTML," "AstroGuide," "ASTRONOMY.NET" & "VA.NET"
are trademarks of John Huggins