Re: [asa] The Multiverse - Physics or Metaphysics?

> "A final comment on "irreducible complexity" and "intelligent design". By
> showing that highly complex systems, actually, can emerge by chance and,
> moreover, are inevitable, if extremely rare, in the universe, the present
> model sidesteps the issue of irreducibility and leaves no room whatsoever
> for any form of intelligent design."
>
> It is my view that Koonin hasn't sidestepped the problem of intelligent
> design at all - in effect he has replaced one unprovable assumption (God)
> with another equally unprovable assumption (the multiverse).

Two other flaws in his reasoning:

"any form of intelligent design" is far too sweeping. It only
provides an equally unprovable option for explaining improbable events
and thus challenges proabilistic arguments. Most importantly, though
unsatisfying for ID, God can achieve what He wants no matter how many
universes there are. Conversely, "we just happen to be extremely
lucky" is another atheistic unprovable assumption that equally
explains the data of science.

An infinite number of multiverses still doesn't guarantee that every
imaginable or unimaginable possibility will actually happen. To
deterimine that, we would need to know the statistical distribution of
the relevant parameters. For example, if our universe needs a
particular constant to be near 1 for life to exist, and multiverses
show a range of values between -1 and 2, ours doesn't look unusual.
If all others fall within +/- 1/2, then there's something strange
about ours despite having an infinite sample to draw on. A related
error is assuming that our universe ought to be near the norm. It's
not a randomly selected example, and even if it were any one
characteristic has a 1 in 20 chance of being outside the 95%
probability envelope.

-- 
Dr. David Campbell
425 Scientific Collections
University of Alabama
"I think of my happy condition, surrounded by acres of clams"
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