Surprising Evidence for Intelligent Design [Excerpts]
Discover [magazine] is one of the most widely read popular-level science magazines. And like the vast majority of science journals and magazines, it is decidedly naturalistic. Nevertheless, the article [“A Universe Built for Us” (pp. 52-58) describes] how our cosmos “seems inexplicably well designed for life” (p. 52).
The reason the author of the article, concluded the universe appears designed is because of how exquisitely the laws of physics are fine-tuned for the emergence and sustenance of life….the properties of the universe “are uncannily suited for life. Tweak the laws of physics in just about any way and—in this universe, anyway—life as we know it would not exist” (p. 52).
One example of fine-tuning of life is the mass of the proton. If protons were 0.2 percent more massive than they actually are, they would be unstable and would decay into simpler protons. As a result, atoms could not exist—and neither could we! There are so many other examples like this…“that physicists can’t dismiss them all as mere accidents” (p. 54). So, what is the cause of these striking “accidents?” [the author] concludes:
“Call it a fluke, a mystery, a miracle. Or call it the biggest problem in physics. Short of invoking a benevolent creator, many physicists see only one possible explanation: Our universe may be one of perhaps infinitely many universes in an inconceivably vast universe” (p. 54).
