New Miscellany (General)

by David Turell , Friday, February 14, 2025, 18:29 (20 days ago) @ dhw

Evolution

DAVID: He is a magnificent designer, using a messy evolution system. […]

dhw: Magnificent designer of organisms. Messy, inefficient designer of systems. See also the next item.

dhw: You have not responded, but the implication could hardly be clearer, and is one of several examples of inefficiency with which you inadvertently ridicule your all-powerful, all-knowing God.

I view it differently. An all-knowing God will chose the best system to achieve His goal.

T-cells and immunity

DAVID: Same reply to your theodicy question. Proportionality. Almost everyone lives.

dhw: That does not explain how your all-powerful, all-knowing God can invent a system which is not perfect, i.e. does not “cover all”, but leads to millions of deaths before intelligent humans can "cover" the gaps left by the inefficiency you keep imposing on your God. Stop dodging!

No dodge: God is not an inefficient designer. No need to repeat answers above.

Fine-tuning

DAVID: Do you fully understand what the CMB tells us? It is the embryo of the universe? All the same with no oddball areas. An embryo can only follow its design. When fine tuning was a hot topic thirty years ago, no expert voiced your contrary point.

dhw: Do you know the meaning of "fine tuning"? Definitions for you: “to adjust precisely so as to bring to the highest level of performance or effectiveness”. (Merriam-Webster) - or. “to make very small changes to something so that it is as good as it can possibly be.” (Oxford) […]. Ours is the only planet is which all the adjustments have been made. We know nothing about adjustments in the unknown 95% of the universe.

DAVID: For the whole universe to exist all the factors must be fine-tuned, to exquisitely narrow points of accuracy. Earth's life allowing adjustments are a different issue entirely.

dhw: I’m sorry, but the theory of “fine-tuning” does not mean the universe is fine-tuned to be itself, and if it was not itself, it would not exist! The whole theory relates to LIFE, and Earth is the only example we know of in which all the necessary factors have come together (or been adjusted, or “fine-tuned”) in such a way as to produce life. At best, you might argue that our galaxy is “fine-tuned” for life. What evidence is there that the billions of other galaxies extant and extinct are/were also “fine-tuned” for life? Perhaps you will now respond to the points I have raised above. (Please refer to yesterday’s post.)

DAVID: Apparently you weren't following the discussions thirty years ago. The whole universe exists because of the fine-tuning factors, about 20+ of them. It is all very sophisticated physics. "Universes" by John Leslie will explain it.

dhw: Apparently you have totally misunderstood the focus of the debate:

No I haven't. You have argued fine-tuning is only on this galaxy. It is universe-wide.

Wikipedia:
"The fine-tuned universe is the hypothesis that, because "life as we know it" could not exist if the constants of nature – such as the electron charge, the gravitational constant and others – had been even slightly different, the universe must be tuned specifically for life. In practice, this hypothesis is formulated in terms of dimensionless physical constants.

STANFORD Encyclopedia of Philosophy:

“Various reactions to the universe’s fine-tuning for life have been proposed: that it is a lucky coincidence which we have to accept as a primitive given; that it will be avoided by future best theories of fundamental physics; that the universe was created by some divine designer who established life-friendly conditions; and that fine-tuning for life indicates the existence of multiple other universes with conditions very different from those in our own universe. “

I don't accept the multiverse alternative.

dhw: A quote from Paul Davies:

Physicist Paul Davies said: "There is now broad agreement among physicists and cosmologists that the Universe is in several respects 'fine-tuned' for life. But the conclusion is not so much that the Universe is fine-tuned for life; rather it is fine-tuned for the building blocks and environments that life requires".

dhw: The latter links up with my own arguments, so perhaps now you will deign to respond to them instead of ignoring them.

All the quotes are correct. They accept fine-tuning is universe-wide to allow life. Remember you wanted it limited to this galaxy.