Far out cosmology: does dark energy kill galaxies? (Introduction)

by David Turell , Sunday, March 26, 2017, 18:51 (2588 days ago) @ dhw

Dhw: No cherry-picking but, quoting the same facts, I have simply pointed out that Barnes has offered a different explanation from yours. I know you are watching me. Please watch more carefully!

DAVID: I don't see how Barnes and I differ. My only point from his text was our area of the universe is special and we are here.

dhw: Your comment was: Barnes is suggesting we live in a special place in the universe which supports our very special Milky Way. Is this God at work to protect life in a vast universe? Makes sense to me.

Barnes’s comment was: “In our region of space, the amount of vacuum energy is minuscule, requiring all these fields to cancel one another out to an incredible degree. That seems highly improbable, but in any large enough system, even the most improbable event will occur somewhere.”

You suggest that the incredible specialness suggests God at work, and he suggests that the vastness allows for even the most improbable event. The classic clash between God and chance.

I would emphasize from Barnes' comment: 'in our region of space' is where we exist. Barnes is religious and must make the comment allowing for chance as a balanced statement of possibility. Perhaps God's vastness in the universe allows for that chance arrangement in our area, most likely under God's guidance.