Abstract
Even as astrobiologists search for life in the universe, scientists and philosophers alike are pondering the possibility of a deep and profound relationship between cosmology and biology. The universe appears in its very essence to be biocentric, in that the laws of nature and the physical constants are finely tuned for life, giving rise to what has been termed the anthropic principle. This in turn has given rise to the idea of an ensemble of universes, or multiverse, as an explanation for why we happen to be in a universe particularly suited for life. Exactly 20 years ago, in his book Infinite in All Directions, physicist Freeman Dyson speculated that the prospects are bright for a future-oriented science, joining together in a disciplined fashion the resources of biology and cosmology. Fine-tuning and the multiverse are two concepts that may prove central to this task. In such a cosmic ecology, life and intelligence would play a central role in the evolution of the universe, no less than its physical laws.
First published in Proceedings of the 2008 Conference on the Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers, June 29–July 2, 2008 (NRAO, Green Bank, West Virginia), pp. 1–15
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Notes
- 1.
Einstein’s statement was “The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is at all comprehensible.” Wigner’s thoughts on the subject are in (Wigner 1960).
- 2.
Churchill’s comment came in a radio address in 1939, 2 months after Russia’s non-aggression compact with Germany.
- 3.
This was the article on which Wallace’s book was based.
- 4.
Carter also went on to apply the anthropic principle to biology and quantum theory, in addition to cosmology(Carr 2007b, 285).
- 5.
The constants of nature have been a fascinating problem since the “Large Number Coincidences” that Arthur S. Eddington and P. A. M Dirac studied in the 1930s. But these authors did not relate to the fine-tuning problem. See Miller (2005) and Douglas 1979).
- 6.
Gale distinguishes three categories of multiple worlds: spatially multiple, temporally multiple, and other-dimensional multiple.
- 7.
Pantin also added “But even if there were any conceivable way of testing such a hypothesis we should only have put off the problem of why, in all those Universes, our own should be possible?!” See also Barrow and Tipler (1986, 250).
- 8.
Leslie’s quote from Adams is “If he were obliged to insist on a Universe, he seemed driven to the Church,” which he follows with his own paraphrase “so he opted for a ‘multiverse’ of largely or entirely separate worlds with very different characteristics.” Adams does use the word “multiverse”, but these worlds for Adams were not physical universe s. Leslie refers to the 1931 edition of Adams, but it was first published in 1918. As the references in his volume show, Leslie is the philosopher who has written most on the subject of other universes, beginning with his ideas in the 1970s that the universe is “ethically required.” See also the collection of articles in Leslie (1998)
- 9.
Another important set of papers is found in a special issue of the International Journal of Astrobiology , on “Fine Tuning in Living Systems,” volume 2, issue 2 (April, 2003).
- 10.
- 11.
On the concept of cosmic horizon, and the differences between the observed universe, the observable universe, and the entire universe see, Davies (2007), pp. 30–40.
- 12.
For his most recent analysis, which pans the anthropic principle , but not the multiverse, see Smolin (2007b)
- 13.
In its “Copenhagen Interpretation” entry, the sometimes-accurate Wikipedia reports that according to a poll at a Quantum Mechanics workshop in 1997, “the Copenhagen interpretation is the most widely-accepted specific interpretation of quantum mechanics, followed by the many-worlds interpretation. Although current trends show substantial competition from alternative interpretations, throughout much of the twentieth century the Copenhagen interpretation had strong acceptance among physicists. Astrophysicist and science writer John Gribbin describes it as having fallen from primacy after the 1980s.”
- 14.
Carr (2007a, 16) points out that, while Cosmic Design should not be confused with Intelligent Design, “atheists might hope that the multiverse theory will have the same impact in the context of cosmic design as the theory of evolution did in the context of biological design.”
- 15.
The Jesuit astronomer William R. Stoeger offers the possibility that multiverses are testable through the concept of “retroduction,” an idea proposed by the philosopher C. S. Peirce and supported by Notre Dame philosopher/historian Ernan McMullin. He defines retroduction as “inference based on the success or fruitfulness of an hypothesis in accounting for better understanding of a set of phenomena.” Thus, if a hypothesis accomplishes the following, it may be true despite the inability to actually see its hidden properties (such as a multiverse): (1) account for empirical data (empirical adequacy); (2) provide long-term explanatory success and stimulate productive lines of further enquiry (theory fertility); and (3) bring together previously disparate domains of facts (unifying power) (Stoeger 2007, 445–457: 450–45). James Gardner uses “retrodiction” in his Selfish Biocosm Hypothesis Gardner (2003, 197–211).
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Dick, S.J. (2020). Cosmology and Biology: An Entangled Web?. In: Space, Time, and Aliens. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41614-0_40
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