The Fallacy of Fine-Tuning
Why the Universe Is Not Designed for Us
Victor J. Stenger
A number of authors have noted that if some physical parameters were
slightly changed, the universe could no longer support life, as we know
it. This implies that life depends sensitively on the physics of our
universe. Does this “fine-tuning” of the universe also suggest that a
creator god intentionally calibrated the initial conditions of the
universe such that life on earth and the evolution of humanity would
eventually emerge? Some influential scientists, such as National
Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins, think so. Others go even
further, asserting that science “has found God.”
In
this in-depth, lucid discussion of this fascinating and controversial
topic, physicist Victor J. Stenger looks at the same evidence and comes
to the opposite conclusion. He states at the outset that as a physicist
he will go wherever the data takes him, even if it leads him to God.
But after many years of research in particle physics and thinking about
its implications, he finds that the observations of science and our
naked senses not only show no evidence for God, they provide evidence
beyond a reasonable doubt that God does not exist.
Stenger argues that many of the claims by theists are based on their
misunderstanding of the science. He looks at the specific parameters
and shows that plausible reasons can be found for the values they have
within the existing standard models of physics and cosmology. These
models are introduced in detail so that the reader has the background
needed to understand the role of the parameters claimed to be
fine-tuned and judge the veracity of the arguments.
He
also discusses related issues such as whether or not the universe had a
beginning, what quantum mechanics implies about the involvement of
human consciousness in affecting reality, and whether evidence can be
found in nature for a divine plan.
Although Stenger has touched on the subject of fine-tuning in other
books, this is his most thorough exploration of a topic that continues
to intrigue scientists and the lay public alike.
Victor J. Stenger (Lafayette, CO) is adjunct professor of philosophy at
the University of Colorado and emeritus professor of physics and
astronomy at the University of Hawaii. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller God: The Failed Hypothesis, and
many other books, including The New
Atheism, Quantum Gods, The Unconscious Quantum, Has Science Found God?,
The Comprehensible Cosmos, Timeless Reality, and Physics and Psychics.
Fine-Tuning Talks
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