Posted: Jun 08, 2011 6:04 pm
Another aspect of the "fine tuning argument" I don't believe I have ever seen discussed: It presumes that certain parameters of the universe can be varied infinitely, presumably by God, but others are fixed. If God is able to vary some parameters, I fail to see why he cannot vary the others.
For instance, one commonly cited example of "fine tuning" is that the strong nuclear force and the electromagnetic force must be set within finely tune range in order for carbon to form efficiently. However, that law itself is one of the parameters of the universe that could be varied, if only in theory. IOW, the "law" that states "The efficient production of carbon requires that the strong and electromagnetic forces be set at their current level" is just one paramter that could also be varied. It could be changed to say "The efficient production of carbon requires that the strong force be set at twice the current value, and the EM force set a half the current value" or alternatively "The efficient production of carbon requires that the strong force be set at 29.568 times the current value, and the EM force set a 0.057896 times the current value." With this addition of this one additional value that could also be varied, the number of possible conditions that could result in the efficient production of carbon becomes incalculably large. Infinite, in fact.
For instance, one commonly cited example of "fine tuning" is that the strong nuclear force and the electromagnetic force must be set within finely tune range in order for carbon to form efficiently. However, that law itself is one of the parameters of the universe that could be varied, if only in theory. IOW, the "law" that states "The efficient production of carbon requires that the strong and electromagnetic forces be set at their current level" is just one paramter that could also be varied. It could be changed to say "The efficient production of carbon requires that the strong force be set at twice the current value, and the EM force set a half the current value" or alternatively "The efficient production of carbon requires that the strong force be set at 29.568 times the current value, and the EM force set a 0.057896 times the current value." With this addition of this one additional value that could also be varied, the number of possible conditions that could result in the efficient production of carbon becomes incalculably large. Infinite, in fact.