"For the universe to exist as it does and allow intelligent life to exist, it requires an astonishing series of ‘coincidences’ to have occurred. Astronomer Royal, Martin Rees, has formulated the fine-tuning of the universe in terms of six dimensionless constants (N, Epsilon, Omega, Lambda, Q & D) including the ratio of the strength of electromagnetism to that of gravity, the strength of the force binding nucleons into nuclei and the ratio of the gravitational energy required to pull a large galaxy apart to the energy equivalent of its mass.
According to Rees, these numbers govern the shape, size and texture of the universe and would have been defined during the Big Bang. His conclusion, based on the scientific evidence available, is that these six numbers appear to be unerringly tuned for the emergence of life. That is to say, if any one of them were much different, we simply could not exist.Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;
Job 38:4,6
As Stephen Hawking has written, "The laws of science, as we know them at present, contain many fundamental numbers, like the size of the electric charge of the electron and the ratio of the masses of the proton and the electron. ... The remarkable fact is that the values of these numbers seem to have been very finely adjusted to make possible the development of life." A Brief History of Time p.125 Stephen Hawking
According to Rees, these numbers govern the shape, size and texture of the universe and would have been defined during the Big Bang. His conclusion, based on the scientific evidence available, is that these six numbers appear to be unerringly tuned for the emergence of life. That is to say, if any one of them were much different, we simply could not exist.
In the closing chapters of his book, ‘Just Six Numbers’, Rees concedes that science cannot explain this fine-tuning. The reasons for it lie beyond anything within our universe and therefore beyond anything we can ever measure.
There are three possible explanations for it, namely, chance, physical necessity and design. Chance is overwhelmingly improbable. Physical necessity also seems to be ruled out on the basis that contemporary physics has indicated that these constants exist independently of each other and the laws of nature. It seems therefore not impossible that intelligent design might account for them.
Alternative theories, such as Stephen Hawking’s multiverse theory, are not provable and with a complexity that runs wildly contrary to Occam’s razor’s demand for succinctness and simplicity." CMC
