Ars Technica (via Digg):
The authors go on to ponder what this means in terms of the anthropic principle: the idea that we exist in a universe that’s got conditions favorable to life largely because anything else would preclude any life arising that could ponder the universe. They suggest that there’s another layer of complexity on top of that, namely that we only recognize that there is an anthropic principle because we came along at the right time. Too much earlier, and we wouldn’t be able to detect that the universe is in a new inflationary era, which tells us that it’s dominated by dark energy. Too much later, and we wouldn’t be able to know that there’s a universe at all. As the authors put it, “we live in a very special time in the evolution of the universe: the time at which we can observationally verify that we live in a very special time in the evolution of the universe!”
Funny how that works.
2 Responses
July 13th, 2007 at 10:30 am
Dave,
I have appreciated your courtesy and politeness. That is unfortunately a rare commodity on the internet. You have also been reasonable and do not try to score absurd points based upon the least sensical reading of your opponent’s words. I was not referring, in those verses, to you. I was speaking #1 generally and in #2 specifically.
As for the Buddhists being left alone to do their thing in peace, I would be a horrible hypocrite if I believe that they were going to spend eternity in hell unless they turned to Christ, yet did nothing to tell them. The applies to telling you as well.
As for a reason based approach to truth, my goal is to do that in all of life. I believe the evidence of the world and in my own life points quite strongly to the existence of Yahweh, the God of the Bible. I have personally experienced a relationship with Him. Furthermore, I have seen the evidence of the natural world around me and it is quite obvious that “the heavens declare the glory of God”. I have not blindly taken the Bible, but rather have proven it’s basic premise–Yahweh is God–and its accuracy and innerrancy to my satisfaction. (I am quite the critical person. My poor teachers despair of me at times–I fact check everything and disagree with orthodoxy frequently.) Only since I have done that has it become a reliable source of truth for me.
Blessings as you pursue truth! May you find the absolute truth of “the way things really are” (TM)!
-Hans
July 17th, 2007 at 2:47 am
The evidence has not changed. The argument has not changed. I have not been cornered. I have the capacity to keep arguing in an intellectually honest way. What has changed is the amount of time I have to engage in such activities. Just ask my professors how behind I am on my homework.
Also, these kind of cheap “points” scored is also indicative of why I stopped.
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