|
|
My Comment on Stephen Hawking’s “Why God Did
Not Create the Universe”
by Dr. Robert Piccioni
October 3, 2010
Stephen
Hawking’s latest book was announced with much fan-fare. The most
informative article that I saw about it was in the Wall Street Journal,
which had the title shown above. Many people have asked me about
this—it’s now the first question at most of my talks. So, here are my
thoughts. More complete explanations can be found in sources listed at
the end of this newsletter.
Firstly,
what was reported in no way proves or disproves the existence of God.
Hawking may believe that he knows how the universe was created, but
it’s impossible for him or anyone else to prove that creation did not
involve God. The existence of God is beyond the realm of science to
measure or compute, and will always remain a matter of faith. In the
absence of direct evidence, it is inappropriate for any scientist to
claim he's proven something based solely on his personal belief. Making
such a provocative claim, apparently for purely commercial purposes, is
particularly improper. It is a disservice to science and to society,
and is a blemish on an otherwise spectacular scientific career.
Secondly, as reported, Hawking’s new book contains no new science—the
multiverse is a rather old idea.
For
many decades, most scientists have believed that everything we can see
and detect, our “observable universe”, is probably not all that exists.
There is no direct evidence for this (how could there be direct
evidence of something that is undetectable?). Nonetheless, most
scientists believe something lies beyond the limits of our observable
universe, probably an extension of our own universe.
Since the
early 1970’s, American physicist Alan Guth and Russian (now American)
physicist Andre Linde have proposed the spontaneous creation of our
universe and an unlimited number of other universes. Linde calls it
“Eternal Inflation”. Cosmologists use the word “multiverse” to describe
this vast (or even infinite) collection of universes. Again, there is
no direct evidence of the multiverse, or even of one other, entirely
separate universe, but many people find the idea appealing.
Other
universes might be very different from ours, with different values of
the 20 “knobs” that determine critical physical parameters. They might
have a different initial expansion rate, a different amount of
antimatter, a different proton mass, etc. Most cosmologists agree that
in our universe these knobs seem set to the precise values required to
enable life, and that other universes with even modestly different knob
settings would probably not contain any form of life whatsoever.
Knowing this, many people, scientists and non-scientists alike, wonder
how our universe came to have exactly the knob settings that life
requires.
The multiverse is the ultimate “rug”, under which
Hawking sweeps all the wonders and mysteries of the cosmos. With an
infinite number of universes, no matter how unlikely the right settings
are there might still be an infinite number of habitable universes.
But, infinity is often not so straightforward. An infinite sequence
does not necessarily encompass all possibilities. An infinite series of
numbers can add up to zero—in fact, there are an infinite number of
infinite series that do add up to zero. Historically, every time a
physics theory has come up with an answer of infinity, it has been
wrong.
Hawking says the multiverse nullifies all questions—we
don’t need God or a Theory of Everything to explain the universe,
because there is no explanation—it’s all just a crapshoot. There is no
Great Truth or Grand Design, religious or scientific, to
pursue—everything is merely an accident. If true, there would be no
reason to further employ scientists like Hawking to search for profound
cosmic truths that he says don’t exist. Historically, many people,
including scientists, said there was nothing more to discover, and they
were always wrong.
I can’t disprove Hawking, but I find his
notion profoundly depressing. It reminds me of what another famous
cosmologist once said: we are but a carbonaceous smear on an
insignificant rock orbiting an ordinary star in an unremarkable galaxy.
I see all the same facts and come to a completely different conclusion.
Science
has proven that we are the most remarkable wonder in the universe, made
of the rarest and most precious ingredients, living on an incredible
planet, orbiting an ideal star that was born in the right place at the
right time, in a marvelous galaxy, and in a universe with perfect
geometry.
With no definitive proof that a multiverse exists, or
that it contains an infinite number of universes encompassing all
possibilities, or that no Great Truth exists, whatever each of us
chooses to believe is fundamentally an act of faith.
I choose optimism. I believe we have a wondrous future.
We are not at the end—we are at the threshold of a new beginning.
For more on the multiverse and “knobs” checkout:
• my online radio show titled: “Can Life Be Merely An Accident?”
• chapter 9 in my book Can Life Be Merely An Accident?
• chapter 40 in my book Everyone’s Guide to Atoms, Einstein, and the
Universe
All of these can be referenced through my website
www.guidetothecosmos.com.
Or feel free to email me.
Enjoy Exploring.
Best Regards,
Robert
Dr Robert Piccioni,
Author of "Everyone's Guide to Atoms, Einstein, and the Universe"
and "Can Life Be Merely An Accident?"
www.guidetothecosmos.com
|
|
