New Miscellany: more on fine-tuning (General)

by David Turell , Monday, February 17, 2025, 19:45 (17 days ago) @ dhw

Fine tuning

DAVID: This specific whole universe exists only because 20+ factors are fine-tuned.

dhw: Fine-tuned for what? All this means is that if this specific universe was not what it is, it would not be what it is, or it would not exist. You can say the same about anything! If you were not who you are, you would not be who you are, or you might never have existed.

The 20+ factors are so interrelated, if one is off a tiny bit, the whole universe collapses. Life is not an issue at this point. If this universe is life-allowing, it is another tangential issue.

DAVID: The same factors apply to the appearance of life, because if this universe varied the factors only a little, life could not appear.

dhw: Once again you are stating the blindingly obvious: of course life could not appear if the universe did not contain all the “factors” necessary for life. But the “fine tuning” for life comes with selection and combination of those factors! And the only place in the universe which we know has combined them all and produced life is Planet Earth!

Fine-tuning has two meanings: a fine-tuned group of factors allowed this particular universe to exist. Secondarily the same fine-tuning allows life to appear. This means this universe is unique.

DAVID: Thus fine-tuning is throughout the universe while life appeared so far only on Earth. We think life might be out there somewhere because the same factors are everywhere, so we discuss possible alien life.

dhw: How can anyone claim that the fine-tuning for life exists throughout the universe if we only know of one planet that harbours life? Yes, we can discuss the possibility of life elsewhere, but that is a far, far cry from the claim that the whole universe is fine-tuned for life.

The universe is a single unit. It does not differ from itself anywhere. Life is a totally separate issue.

QUOTE: “The researchers said they plan to test their alternative model, including questioning the unique status of the proposed evolutionary "hard steps." The recommended research projects are outlined in the current paper and include such work as searching the atmospheres of planets outside our solar system for biosignatures, like the presence of oxygen.”

DAVID: This study presumes fine-tuning for life is everywhere in the universe. Life can then appear in any spot that evolves life hospitability as it did on Earth. With universal fine-tuning life can be invited anywhere.

dhw: It presumes no such thing. It recommends research into atmospheres to see whether they are indeed fine-tuned for life, although even if individual factors are present, that still doesn’t guarantee there will be life. The only way you can prove that ANYWHERE is fine-tuned for life is if you find life!

Still confused. This unique universe is fine-tuned as it exists based on all the unique interrelated factors physicists describe. That it allows life is a secondary issue, not primary as you make it.

Bird brains

QUOTES: "The genetic tools they use to establish their cellular identity vary from species to species, each exhibiting new and unique cell types." This all indicates that these structures and circuits are not homologous, but rather the result of convergent evolution, meaning that "they have independently developed these essential neural circuits through different evolutionary paths."

“Our studies show that evolution has found multiple solutions for building complex brains," explains Dr. García-Moreno. "Birds have developed sophisticated neural circuits through their own mechanisms, without following the same path as mammals.”

dhw: Evolution does not find anything. Evolution is a process, not an agent. The emphasis is always on how cells/cell communities develop or change their functions as they respond in their different ways to the conditions they are exposed to. You will no doubt tell us that every variation was divinely planned 3.8 billion years ago, or dabbled ad hoc. Shapiro suggests that all such changes are made by intelligent cells/cell communities that work out their own solutions (if they are clever enough – otherwise, they go extinct). You and I both reject Darwin’s theory of random mutations. Of the three explanations, I must confess I find Shapiro’s by far the most convincing, and to forestall your usual objection, his theory does not exclude your God, who may have designed the intelligent cell in the first place.

Cells are not intelligent enough to design a new type of organism.