Lloyd rants about the 'Just Right Universe' rubbish

There is a daft argument supposedly showing that god might exist doing the rounds on the internet. It asserts that because there are various values in physics set at very precisely what is necessary for them to have the effect that they do, this somehow suggests an intelligent creator's setting all this values.

I suggest in this video if one looks at any observed phenomenon (e.g. bird migration) that one would be able to come up with many variables that have to be set very precisely for us to observe the effect that we do, and that these value are in fact all related. Isn't it amazing that water flows EXACTLY along every river in the world? No, not really, because gravity and the water shaped the rivers in the first place, and now the same gravity and the same material (water) will follow the courses quite naturally.

Physics, especially quantum physics, is imperfectly understood at best, and the various values that we observe will of course all affect each other, so we should be similarly unimpressed by the apparent precision of these values. Also, you can't alter the rules of the game after the game has started. You cannot observe two planets in perfect orbit and then say "If gravity were slightly stronger, they crash into each other" - if gravity had always been stronger, then the planets would have formed differently in the first place and found a different point of balance/orbits.

I decided to use bird migration as my example. No particular reason. Isn't it amazing that the birds all curve their flight path exactly to match the curvature of the Earth? No, not really - if the earth curved more, they have curved their flight paths more to match it. People often seem rather bad at spotting when a coincidence is truly remarkable, and when the coincidence is in a field they don't understand well (e.g. quantum physics) they may be fooled more readily.

I've been sticking to my policy of doing all these videos in one unrehearsed take, and am now starting to question the wisdom of this policy. It is nice when it works, but sometimes the shambolic nature of the result starts to get wearisome. I have tried to pep this one up with fancy backgrounds, but I'm not sure how well it worked.

www.LloydianAspects.co.uk

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[52ndGrenadierOL]

my only comment is - for the fact that the universe is too perfect for it to be random - is that if it wasn't perfect we wouldn't be here to question that

[lindybeige]

@52ndGrenadierOL What evidence do you have that the universe is perfect? How much of it have you seen? Are you sure that all the mountain ranges on Earth are exactly the right shape?

[lindybeige]

@ViraIVideos "The fact remains, our universe is the only one that can sustain life." This is a fabulously bold statement.

[rattinox]

I kinda like Bill Hicks' one-word rebuttal to Creationists..........

DINOSAUR

[saldownik]

I don't fully understand your point in this video. Do you suggest that life would exist in pure hydrogen world, it would just be something else? I think it is unlikely in that instance or in a world in which stable matter wouldn't form at all, or in an inflating world in which energy would be too spread out in the beginning. Yep, i think our world is at least somewhat special in the space of possible worlds with similar physics.

Uniqueness of our world doesn't immediately prove god of course.

[Lathox]

@52ndGrenadierOL

The universe is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination.

You can see collapsed nebulae, failed galaxies, planets annihilated by supernovae, and here we have a world that can support life on some of it's surface, some of the time, 90% of it's species are now extinct.

Sorry not impressed.

[TheSmacktasticSMACKO]

people keep saying that Gods creation is perfect. it WAS perfect and according to the bible after the fall of man and their banishment from the garden that all creation fell into a state of imperfection so STOP saying that you just sound stupid!and it dosnt matter how far to the right or left you are on the subject of the creation of the universe NO ONE CAN EVER REALLY KNOW all we can do is speculate! niether side can justify how the universe was really made thus making the argument redundant

[KevinLounsberry]

@ViraIVideos If gravity were more powerful, big things in space would just be farther apart before their masses don't effect eachother. That wouldn't end the universe.

[Predak4082]

I really wish these theists would stop trying to make these "arguments" in favor of God. If you COULD make a definitive, fact-driven argument for God, then there wouldn't be any need for faith, because it would just be accepted as being a fact. There's no trial in believing a fact with well-documented evidence, now is there? I wish that people would stop making these arguments, they're just making damned fools of themselves.

[CenaxKikia]

I always take one of these folks to a puddle on the ground and say.. You see that curvature of the ground? It's perfect for that puddle's existence. If that curve was not there like that, the puddle wouldn't exist.. but perhaps that puddle might be elsewhere... perhaps the universe might be a completely different looking animal with different forces.. how will we know? We won't, because we got the dice roll to look like this.. So lets enjoy the puddle just because.

[yatzy75]

Is it not obvious that religion in general is the tool the few need to have control over the many, and was outdated sometime after "the dark ages"?

Still nice of you to point out such facts to those who still like to be fooled:)

[vanRijn64]

@lindybeige I am sure that the mountain ranges on earth are exactly the right shape. I decided this last night. 

[jdf1023]

I like your vids. After watching a dozen or so, I think I agree with myself on this point. Please continue.

[amorphusensanity]

@DiabolusIgnis Much of your confusion comes from the fact that you are used to observing things with such a small amount of energy (light) compared to the object you observe that an observation affecting the thing observed is strange. Think of it more like this. You are trying to figure out where a billiard ball is on the table, but there's a catch. You can only "see" it by shooting Que balls at it. Oh, and it's moving, so finding it means it is no longer moving the same speed nor direction.