Multiverses revisited

Unused by Op Ed. Steve Williams of our local Victorville, Ca Press Dispatch, perhaps because it would rub his largely conservative readers the wrong way:


In spite of my own left-leaning proclivities, hearty thanks to Dennis Prager, "Why some scientists embrace the 'Multiverse' " June 25, his summary lending credence to an idea I'd long entertained, that "….the universe was designed, or at least fine-tuned to allow for the possibility of life."

However I also agree with Dennis for "...the idea that there are many, perhaps an infinite number of, other universes, …there is not a shred of evidence," an observation in agreement with a scientific principle called to Occam's Razor: The less evidence for a prop, the less likely.

http://www.google.ca/#sclient=psy-ab&q=scientific+principle+parsimony+of+evidence&oq=scientific+principle+parsimony+of+evidence&gs_l=hp.12...2347.13105.0.16277.42.32.0.10.10.0.186.3678.3j29.32.0...0.0...1c.1.18.psy-ab.vXnwoWbVwVY&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.48572450,d.cGE&fp=3ddc37ea7f65dc54&biw=1177&bih=777

And what's meant by "other universes"? If by that term is means other collections of galaxies like ours but so distant we can't see 'em, then isn't there still just one universe? Besides, the notion that the Universe is infinite underestimates the size of infinity:

Let's suppose anything that can happen, will happen. Then however improbable, there must not only be large numbers of similar galaxies but ones also bearing life. Recently it has been suggested there are more planets than stars. So if Earth is the only habitable sphere in our Milky Way with "only" 25 billion stars, our "tiny" universe of "only" 25 billion galaxies, then at comparable levels of population there must be several quadrillion, if not quintillions, of us humanoids scattered throughout just our visible macrocosm. It's enough to make you believe in God.

Furthermore, in an infinite universe the chance of another galaxy identical to ours in every respect is also infinite. But just one? There would have to be an infinite number of identical Earths (however far apart from one another) at this very instant: Given even the most infinitesimal chance of life, an infinite number of Dale Hilemans addressing an infinite number of Dennis Pragers in an infinite number of Apple Valley Reviews

….not a only an insult to the Intuition but clearly a most gross violation of Occam's razor.

Do I believe in God? In my own pantheistic view of The Entire Megillah there's Something largely abstract, a sort of reasoning power we don't yet quite understand, something more that the meaningless and random bouncing of particles off one another, the Universe being Her body and all the activity therein Her mind at work.

Thus utmost credit for Dennis' closing concession, "And honest believers must acknowledge that the existence of a Designing Intelligence is not necessarily the same as the existence of a benevolent God," And though I won't concede She's supernatural, I herewith grant anyone's permission to call It, i.e. Her, God.

Dale Hileman
Apple Valley