Re: and who made god?
From: ken quirici (kquirici_at_yahoo.com)
Date: 02/06/05
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Date: 6 Feb 2005 07:41:54 -0800
Barb Knox wrote:
> I do not claim my existence is any sort
> of necessary fact, but it does happen to be a (contingent) fact.
Given that
> fact, the universe I find myself in must be one which supports life
such as
> myself. So any argument that the fact that the universe appears
fine-tuned
> for our sort of life actually means something more is thoroughly
bogus.
>
You're arguing the universe must be the way it is because it IS the
way it is. That's perfectly true, and conclusive, if there were any
doubt that the universe exists, and has the properties of supporting
human life. About which, of course, there IS no doubt.
But as far as the argument from design, which would use the phrase
'must be' in a different way, and intend it to mean, 'must have been
created and designed to be', it has no force whatsoever.
> Let me put it in terms of conditional probabilities: Let's posit that
the
> probability of the existence of our sort of universe is very close to
0.
> But, the probability of its existence GIVEN THAT we are in fact here
is 1.
>
>
The probability of ANY event occurring AFTER it occurs is 1. The
question is, what are the odds BEFORE it occurred? Unless we assume
the universe had an infinite prior existence, it came into
existence at some past time. What were the chances of its coming into
existence, and with all the properties we know and love, at that past
time? I'm not supporting the argument for design but simply saying
the issues are more complex, I believe, than your argument allows.
Actually, I think the community of thinkers out there believes ANY
universe is POSSIBLE, in which case the chance of this one are near
nil. The question of whether any imaginable universe, however
grotesque, can actually exist is interesting but I suppose there's
very little one can say about that question.
NOTE: it may be that ALL universes actually exist right now and we're
lucky enuf (I hope it's lucky enuf) to be on THIS bus.
Thanks.
Ken
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