The Case for a Creator - Lee Strobel [73]
For the universe to exist as it does requires that hydrogen be converted to helium in a precise but comparatively stately manner—specifically, in a way that converts seven one-thousandths of its mass to energy. Lower that value very slightly—from 0.007 percent to 0.006 percent, say—and no transformation could take place: the universe would consist of hydrogen and nothing else. Raise the value very slightly—to 0.008 percent—and bonding would be so wildly prolific that the hydrogen would long since have been exhausted. In either case, with the slightest tweaking of the numbers the universe as we know and need it would not be here. 29
When the other five numbers that represent “the deep forces that shape the universe” are taken into consideration, said Rees, the universe’s structure becomes “unlikely to an absurd degree.” 30
Still, is Rees surprised by the universe’s exquisitely precarious balancing act? No. Does he believe the fine-tuning points to a designer? Not at all. Why? He answers by using the illustration of a large off-the-rack clothing store.
“If there is a large stack of clothing, you’re not surprised to find a suit that fits,” he said. “If there are many universes, each governed by a different set of numbers, there will be one where there is a particular set of numbers suitable to life. We are in that one.” 31
The argument can be summarized this way: “There could have been millions and millions of different universes, each created with different dial settings of the fundamental ratios and constants, so many in fact that the right set was bound to turn up by sheer chance. We just happened to be the lucky ones.” 32
In other words, if ours is the only universe in existence, then the fine-tuning is powerful—many would say, conclusive—evidence that an intelligence had tinkered with the dials. There seems to be no other reasonable possibility. But that conclusion evaporates if there are many or an infinite number of universes. With enough random dial spinning, the odds are that at least one—our own—would win the cosmic lottery and be a livable habitat.
Rees is not the only skeptic to escape the theistic implications of the finely tuned universe by speculating about the existence of other worlds. In fact, that’s exactly the approach Weinberg took after expressing amazement at the unexpected precariousness of the cosmological constant. 33
Many physicists subscribe to some sort of multiple universe, or “multiverse,” theory, although others scoff at the idea, charging that it’s little more than a metaphysical escape hatch to avoid the fine-tuning evidence for a designer. Said one writer:
Originally the many-worlds hypothesis was proposed for strictly scientific reasons as a solution to the so-called quantum-measurement problem in physics. Though its efficacy as an explanation within quantum physics remains controversial among physicists, its use there does have an empirical basis. More recently, however, it has been employed to serve as an alternate non-theistic explanation for the fine-tuning of the physical constants. This use of the [hypothesis] does seem to betray a metaphysical desperation. 34
“It’s purely a concept, an idea, without scientific proof,” William Lane Craig, coauthor of Theism, Atheism and Big Bang Cosmology, told me in an interview. “Look—this is pure metaphysics. 35 There’s no real reason to believe such parallel worlds exist. The very fact that skeptics have to come up with such an outlandish theory is because the fine-tuning of the universe points powerfully toward an intelligent designer—and some people will hypothesize anything to avoid reaching that conclusion.” 36
Similarly, Cambridge’s Polkinghorne, a former professor of mathematical physics, has called the hypothesis “pseudo-science” and “a metaphysical guess.” 37 He put it this way in his book Science and Theology: “The many universes account is sometimes presented as if it were purely scientific, but in fact a sufficient portfolio of different universes could only be generated by speculative processes that