So, why a Universe so big if it is just for us? Answer: because it had to be JUST PRECISELY that big!

Choice among a RANGE OF OPTIONS: A dime’s difference

The natural sciences have discovered a vast and growing number of constants, quantities, initial conditions (things in place at the beginning of the Universe), balances, and aspects of the Universe that had to land just where they did, or life would not exist. For example, consider the entire mass (mass is a measure of how much matter is in something) is in the Universe, then realize if the Universe’s mass or mass density (a measure of how much mass is in a certain volume) just happened to be slightly different, then we would not be here to think about it.

Scientists have found if the mass density of the entire Universe just happened to be different by more than 1 part in a quadrillion quadrillion quadrillion quadrillion (1 in 10⁶⁰), then we would not be here. In other words, if by chance, out of all the possible values for the mass density, our value had differed by less than the mass of a dime, then the balance within the Universe would be thrown off, and no life would be possible.

Why? Because, especially at the beginning of the Universe, two massive forces acted against each other: GRAVITY, which depends on how much mass is involved, acts to pull everything together, and an EXPANSION force, which acts to push things apart. If there had been a tiny bit less mass, then the expansion force would have dominated too much, spreading the Universe out so fast only hydrogen and helium gas would form – no life. If just a bit more mass, then gravity would have dominated right at the beginning, and the Universe would have been pulled back together in a big crunch, resulting in mostly black holes and neutron stars, again – no life.

The mass density difference would also cause other imbalances. The Universe came into existence phenomenally small and dense and hot, and immediately started expanding and cooling off. Within the first 3-4 minutes of its existence, the Universe’s temperature fell through a range of 200 billion °C down to 17 billion °C. This latter temperature is similar to the core of our Sun, which allows nuclear fusion to start combining (H)ydrogen atoms into (He)lium and releases the remaining energy in the form of heat and light.

If the Universe had less mass or mass density, then it would have cooled faster, had less time to fuse H into He, and resulted in a Universe incapable of producing elements heavier than He, such as Carbon (C), Nitrogen (N), Oxygen (O) and other elements necessary for life—we would have a hot air balloon Universe—no life. If there just happened to be a bit more mass at the beginning, then too much H would be fused into He, and we would end up having a heavy metal Universe, Metallica fans would be pleased, but no fans would exist because the Universe would only be composed of metals of Iron (Fe) or heavier—and again, no life possible.

So how did it all begin with the perfect balance of gravity and expansion, and just the right mass to enable the creation of all the elements needed for life, when it could have began with any other amount of mass and have no life? Only two possibilities, either an intelligent agent ensured the precise condition was met, or it happened naturally by chance.

The first time listening to astrophysicist Hugh Ross explain this in a lecture, I did the calculation myself as it seemed ridiculous, yet was stunned when the calculation matched his statement about less than a dime’s difference would make all the difference. When these fine-tuned features of our Universe were initially discovered, many assumed reasons would be found to explain away the incredible coincidences. For example, maybe another factor in the expansion of the Universe made the mass density work out without the mathematical need for a purposeful designer. We will look into this possibility. However, there is another factor involved, a pattern has been found in this study of the Universe: fine-tuning features do not go away, they have only grown in number arithmetically and in evidence exponentially against coincidence, and the precise expansion of space is an example.

Could some natural explanation be found? What is the trend?

Some, whose worldview includes God, may be thinking this is “proof God exists,” but it isn’t, because:

1. God is not trying to “prove” his existence (see the response to the question: “Why does God seem hidden?” in the FAQ section).
2. An intelligent creator may have used primarily natural means to arrive at the precise value.
3. Or, there may be something further involved we are still ignorant of, which may explain it by nature and chance only. This example of mass density was chosen for a reason, being a good example of a time when theists have to remain open, as is equally expected of non-theists, and just follow the evidence where it leads. There is a theory, with reasonable evidence, the Universe had an extra-rapid expansion, or inflationary period, for the smallest fraction of a second near the beginning of the Universe, and additionally, something in the fabric of space itself causes expansion, potentially enabling the Universe to have expanded just right, regardless of mass.

Would this mean this fine-tuning example is totally explained naturally? No, because ever since scientists first realized there are quantities, constants and other factors set precisely within the unfathomably precise range required for life, these examples have only grown and been found to be more amazing as further discovery goes on, and this is a good example because if expansion takes care of the mass density fine-tuning, why is this expansion just right? The answer has now been found, and follows the trend of a constant increase of mind-blowing fine-tuning evidence.

What Makes Our Universe Expand?

The expansion of space comes from what has been called dark energy, it is the space energy density, which we cannot see but is all through the fabric of space, and is stretching out space. The larger the surface area of the Universe becomes the more powerful the force of expansion, so the bigger the Universe gets, the faster it spreads apart.

Once again, if expanding too slowly, gravity would compress all things in the early Universe to black holes and neutron stars, and with such force molecules, atoms, and life could not exist. On the other hand, if expanding too rapidly, gravity would be incapable of forcing gas and dust together to produce any stars at all, and no life possible.

How likely was it that out of all the possible values the expansion force could have taken, it landed on just the value needed for life? If, by chance, this space energy density differed by 1 part in 10¹²⁰, no life could exist (Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow, The Grand Design, 161–62). Therefore, while the need for the mass density to be precisely fine-tuned can be explained by the expansive force of space energy density, all this does is push the question back a step and into an even more amazingly tight prescription. Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow regard this fact as “the most impressive fine-tuning” (Hawking, 161). Now, the likelihood the precise balance was attained by chance just moved from a likelihood of 1 in 10⁶⁰ to the unfathomable 1 chance in 10¹²⁰.

Hoping to Win the Mega-Millions Jackpot? Over and Over Again?

Whenever someone invokes chance as their explanation, they place their claim in the mathematician’s calculation for analysis. One year the Mega Millions State Lotto caught my attention with a payoff of two hundred million dollars. While standing in line at a convenient store, I checked the numbers and calculated the odds (this is what I typed into my calculator for the lottery odds: =((52! – 47!) / 5!)*52). Let’s put 10¹²⁰ into a situation where you can see the significance of this number. If one person won the Mega Millions State Lotto, so what, someone had to win eventually. But now imagine this same person getting greedy, and buys one ticket for the next drawing, and wins again, and again, 15 times in a row.

The Highest Example of Man-Made Precision

In a lecture, Hugh Ross described the most sensitive device ever produced by man, the LIGO gravity wave detector, and even worked with some members of the Cal Tech and MIT scientists and engineers who created it. This instrument is so sensitive it can detect a change in distance one-hundred-millionth the diameter of a hydrogen atom (10^-21). Amazing precision. 

The precision required for the Universe to just happen to land on the exact space energy density value required for life, displays more than a trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion times greater precision than LIGO, and correspondingly, whatever caused this precision was at least a trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion times more knowledgable, capable and better funded than the Cal Tech and MIT scientists & engineers who designed humanity’s most precise instrument.

The Fine-Tuned Universe

The example above is amazing, but not alone, so we will now give a view of how strong the evidence is for a Purposeful Creator and corresponding Purposeful life for us.

Wherever science looks, whether at the four fundamental forces of physics operating throughout the whole universe, initial conditions at the very beginning of the Universe, or at the smallest units in our Universe, there is displayed fine-tuning of values and systems all throughout nature and ALL fitting within their respective precise ranges, all in combination with each other, to fit the pattern or requirements for our life to have a window of time to operate here. Exactly fitting the hallmarks of an intelligent agent discussed in the previous blog.

For example, to have life on any planet you would need galaxy clusters, a galaxy, a solar system, a star, and a planet with an incredible list of just-right features. You can obtain a list of these features, as well as hundreds of accompanying references from peer-reviewed literature in the best coverage of the topic I have found, and double-checked through interactions with Hugh Ross at Reasons to Believe, www.reasons.org/links/hugh/research-notes. Dr. Ross left atheism for theism, yet if you are worried about bias, not only has the data come from non-theist peer-reviewed scientific studies and literature, the references are provided for you to check yourself.

The list has hundreds, moving towards a thousand, fine-tuned features, and the personal cause of the Universe model has been presented to the most renown universities, science-oriented audiences and scholars across the world, especially to those who do not share the worldview of Dr. Ross. If you’d like to see an example of how highly educated atheist scientists respond to this information, look up Hugh Ross and Victor Stenger debate at Cal Tech to around 700 skeptics. Universally those scholars do accept the fine-tuning of the features. The only disagreement between these scientists and the fine-tuning is over the mathematic probabilities assigned to some features, however, the disagreement typically only goes to a maximum of a couple dozen zeros. The probability of getting all the fine-tuned features exactly as they need to be in combination for life to exist is on the order of 1 chance in 10¹⁰⁰⁰⁺, a couple dozen zeros is insignificant in this comprehensive case.

For those who do not like dealing with numbers, Pierre-Simon Laplace, who produced important developments in mathematics, statistics, engineering, physics and astronomy, also correctly noted probabilities are nothing but common sense reduced to a calculation. Currently, we will look at just a few fine-tuning features, and then provide others in future blogs.

Every time you look at the Moon, you are seeing a bizarrely perfect feature of the Earth’s development meeting preconditions for life. A planet at Earth’s distance from the Sun is not supposed to have a moon like ours, and instead should, and did, have a toxic atmosphere, unstable wobble of its axis of rotation, higher rotation speeds with tremendous winds, and lack of heavy and radioactive elements.

Then came the Moon, a freak of nature. Scientists understood the Earth is abnormal as all those features mentioned somehow changed and became life-permitting. Because fine-tuning had become an accepted part of Universe, it led scientists to predict and look  for a reason why our moon was the way it was and how it came to be just right for life on Earth.

Answers have been published, including the computer simulation shown in the image. An object around the size of Mars slammed into the early Earth, at the right velocity and angle to rid Earth of much of its toxic atmosphere, form a moon able to slow down the rotation rate, stabilize the rotation axis tilt, and enrich the Earth’s core with iron and radioactive elements to sustain a long history of plate tectonics, land formation, and production a magnetic field (David J. Stevenson. “Making the Moon”. Physics Today, November 2014; Canup, R., Asphaug, E. Origin of the Moon in a giant impact near the end of the Earth’s formation. Nature 2001; 412, 708–712).

The convection motion of molten iron in the core of earth was then able to create and sustain a magnetosphere, which is like a force field you see in sci-fi movies. An article from The Universe Today (How Does the Earth Protect Us From Space?), as well as others from NASA, describe how this unique feature protects us from “a dangerous Universe that’s always trying to kill us.” Cosmic (meaning from objects in space) and solar (from the Sun) radiation damages DNA, causes cancer, and wreaks other havoc, and the solar winds (charged particles coming from the Sun) would erode our atmosphere. We are kept safe from these dangers as the magnetosphere forces these charged particles away from the Earth. As you may notice from the illustration, the magnetosphere is not like a bubble, but more like a magnetic field with field lines angling in toward the poles. This does allow some radiation to funnel in toward the poles, but aside from the fact the poles are not population centers, the radiation that does get through the magnetosphere collides with another line of defense, the ionosphere, and results in a beautiful display of our protection, the aurora borealis (the Northern Lights).