Why the Universe Obviously Has a Creator (and Why Some Atheists Refuse to Even Consider It)

[muriel_volestrangler]

46. I don't think it was about 'fine-tuning' at all

I think it's referring to this calculation from "The Emperor's New Mind" from 1989:

How special was the big bang?

Let us try to understand just how much of a constraint a condition such as WEYL = 0 at the big bang was. For simplicity (as with the above discussion) we shall suppose that the universe is closed. In order to be able to work out some clear-cut figures, we shall assume, furthermore, that the number B of baryons-that is, the number of protons and neutrons, taken together-in the universe is roughly given by

B = 10^80.
...
Try to imagine the phase space (cf. p. 177) of the entire universe! Each point in this phase space represents a different possible way that the universe might have started off. We are to picture the Creator, armed with a `pin' which is to be placed at some point in the phase space (Fig. 7.19 not shown). Each different positioning of the pin provides a different universe. Now the accuracy that is needed for the Creator's aim depends upon the entropy of the universe that is thereby created. It would be relatively `easy' to produce a high entropy universe, since then there would be a large volume of the phase space available for the pin to hit. (Recall that the entropy is proportional to the logarithm of the volume of the phase space concerned.) But in order to start off the universe in state of low entropy-so that there will indeed be a second law of thermodynamics-the Creator must aim for a much tinier volume of the phase space. How tiny would this region be, in order that a universe closely resembling the one in which we actually live would be the result?
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How big was the original phase-space volume W that the Creator had to aim for in order to provide a universe compatible with the second law of thermodynamics and with what we now observe? It does not much matter whether we take the value

W = 10^10^101 or W = 10^10^88

given by the galactic black holes or by the background radiation, respectively, or a much smaller (and, in fact, more appropriate) figure which would have been the actual figure at the big bang. Either way, the ratio of V to W will be, closely

V/W = 10^10^123.

http://www.ws5.com/Penrose/

('WEYL' is a space-time curvature tensor - see Google Books excerpt: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=0mVEBJ34v9EC&lpg=PA453&ots=fuOBkUoNJW&dq=%22roger%20penrose%22%20%22weyl%22&pg=PA437#v=onepage&q&f=false )

I don't think that's a 'fine-tuning' argument, in terms of fundamental constants or forces, anyway. It's more 'initial conditions', and never is it about "a Universe conducive to life" as the rabbi claimed; it's "a universe compatible with the second law of thermodynamics and with what we now observe". The analogy to the deck of cards that is referred to in this thread is far closer to it than what the rabbi thinks it's about.