Metaphysical

Notes

1. See Walter James ReMine, The Biotic Message, 1993.  p 62 ↩
2. Rhodes, 2012, p. 21: “… This could mean that, in our galaxy alone, there could be at least 46 billion Earth-sized planets.  To be habitable, such planets would have to have surface liquid water, available organic material, and a reliable source of energy, as well as a congenial balance of atmosphere, orbit, and rotation.

   based life of Earth.  Perhaps it is, though it could also, one supposes, be “life” of a kind unlike any we now know, or even can visualize.” ↩

3. Dawkins, 2004, p. 3: “Obviously we, who find ourselves reflecting upon such things, must be in one of those universes, however rare, whose laws and constants are capable of evolving us.” ↩
4. Calle, 2009, p. 156: “Is this delicate balance of the laws of physics that make the universe suitable for life evidence that the universe was tinkered with so that it would lead to our existence?  In the absence of a complete theory capable of explaining the exact value of the cosmological constant and the fragile equilibrium of the laws of physics, it would appear as if the laws of physics, the watchmaker of the universe, would require their own watchmaker.

   Is this really the case?  Have we found a job that only a supernatural designer can handle?  Is this fine-tuning of the cosmological constant beyond the reach of science?  In the following chapters, we will explore possible solutions to the cosmological constant problem, a problem that may be the biggest problem in physics today.  Some of these exciting new ideas make use of the innumerable models of the universe that can contain all the possible universes that the theory is capable of describing.  If these ideas are correct, we don’t have to arrive at an automatic and unique escription of our own laws of physics and of the cosmological constant, since all allowed descriptions exist.” ↩

5. Calle, 2009, p. 171: “Our visible universe, some twenty-seven billion light-years across, is a very small region within one of these nested bubbles.  We can’t even see our entire universe, much less neighboring bubbles.  These bubbles will remain out of our reach forever.” ↩
6. Calle, 2009, p. 161: “However, M-theory doesn’t exactly describe our universe.  It contains the descriptions of innumerable universes.  Estimates of the possible numbers of universes that the theory is able to describe reach the unimagineable number of \( 10^{500} \).” ↩
7. Calle, 2009, p. 197: “To solve the fine-tuning problem in the eternal inflation scenario, one must invoke the anthropic principle: our universe is one of those very few with the right cosmological constant and life arose in it.  With the anthropic principle, the problem is solved, but at a high price: when the going gets tough, we give up.  When we can’t find the answer, we invoke the anthropic principle.” ↩
8. Calle, 2009, p. 161: “How did this multiplicity of universes that strain the imagination come about?  Recall that in M-theory, the fundamental components of matter are the multidimensional branes that exist in eleven dimensions, ten of space and one of time.  Dimensions over four–our familiar spatial dimensions and time–are rolled up in a tiny circle.  The circunferences of the circles of the extra dimensions determine the strength of the different forces and constants.  Recall also that in M-theory, the compactification of the unseen dimensions is described by Calabi-Yau shapes.  These six-dimensional shapes assure us that the mathematical properties required by M-theory are satisfied.  Each Calibi-Yau shape, with its own set of laws and constants, describes a different universe.” ↩