Is nothing constant?
Have you heard of the ‘fine-tuning constant’?
It’s the thing that makes suns possible…
It characterises the strength of the force between electrically charged particles. As such, it governs—among other things—the energy levels of an atom formed from negatively charged electrons and a positive nucleus.
If it were a mere 4% bigger or smaller than it is, stars would not be able to sustain the nuclear reactions that synthesise carbon and oxygen. One consequence would be that squishy, carbon-based life would not exist.
“Suspiciously convenient?” I hear you think. (yes, I can hear you think…)
Well, you wouldn’t be the first, Very Respectable Christian Scientists have pointed to the fine-tuning constant as evidence for an intelligent designer. But now, Other Scientists, who also happen to be working in Australia, aren’t sure that the fine-tuning constant is really all that constant.
Good grief! We can’t even rely on the laws of physics anymore. It was bad enough when Pluto stopped being a planet. A body could be excused for laying abed of the morning paralysed with anxiety about the future (except that we can’t even rely on the coupling constant to stop us spinning off into space).
What will keep us together?
Where will we find our constancy?
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Even if the fine tuning was that constant, it wouldn't argue for an intelligent designer necessarily – it would just mean it was even more unlikely than we had previously understood that it could have happened by chance, but the fact that we are sitting here talking about it means that we won that one-in-an-incomprehensibly-large-number lottery.
I'm disturbed that you can hear me think. This means that you have already heard that my answer to your closing questions is 'cheese'.
I always thought cheese was a better argument for intelligent design anyway…
hmm we live in an interesting place dont we. 'Laws' always was a bit silly.
The answer is: 42.