DAVID: Cosmology: milky way size is enormous (Introduction)

by David Turell , Monday, June 24, 2019, 15:07 (1980 days ago) @ dhw

Welcome back!

DAVID: Our planet has many fine-tuned and undoubtedly unique features. I suspect we are alone.

dhw: Which again raises the question of why your God, whose sole purpose apparently was to specially design humans, specially designed the billions of galaxies that are incapable of sustaining life.

DAVID: The response is obvious: we have a fine-tuned universe.

dhw: Do we? I thought we had a fine-tuned galaxy. In what way are/were the billions of non-life-bearing galaxies extant and extinct fine-tuned?

DAVID: You are confused. it has always been seen as a fine-tuned universe.

dhw: Then perhaps it’s time to look at it again. If you can’t explain how billions of non-life-bearing galaxies extant and extinct are “fine-tuned”, then simply admit that as far as we know, only our own galaxy is fine-tuned for life.

DAVID: Wrong again. The entire universe is viewed as fine tuned for life everywhere. All those other galaxies are just part of the whole universe and some folks consider they might bear life. Your view is too narrow.

dhw: Please explain to me how anybody knows the makeup of the entire universe, and how all the small galaxies extant and extinct that are/were not suitable for life are/were fine tuned for life, and please note the first quote in this exchange: you “suspect we are alone”.

The entire universe has the same characteristics throughout the portion we can see with the CMB. There are arguments that other portions might be different in the multiverse theories. There are books that describe how fine-tuned he universe is, not at all confined to the Milky Way. Life is possible elsewhere, but requires the special characteristics of our Earth. I still suspect we are alone.