First
Prev
- SUMMATIONS
- THE POSSIBILITY OF REVELATION
- THE HIDDEN NATURE OF THE CREATOR
- THE PROVIDENT REALITY AND THE EQUALITY OF RAIN
- FREE MINDS AND FREE WILL
- AN ORDERED UNIVERSE--MADE TO ORDER?
- (A) PURPOSE FOR THE UNIVERSE
- COMMONALITIES
- VOICES AND PRESENCES
- SPECIAL CLAIMS, SPECIFIC EVIDENCE
- DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO
- ARROGANCE AND FAITH
- IMPLICATIONS AND SUGGESTIVE CLUES
- SOCIAL RELATIVISM ISN'T RELEVANT, PART TWO
- SOCIAL RELATIVISM ISN'T RELEVANT, PART ONE
- SOCIOBIOLOGY'S SHORTCOMINGS, PART TWO
- SOCIOBIOLOGY'S SHORTCOMINGS, PART ONE
- DODGING IMPLICATIONS
- EXISTENTIAL CRISIS IN EXISTENCE
- THE PROBLEM OF VALUES
- THE PROBLEM OF EVIL (PROLOGUE)
- TORNADO IN JUNK SCIENCE
- CHOOSING AMONG THE EXPLANATIONS
- EXPLANATION SIX: SOME IMPLICATIONS
- EXPLANATION SIX: SOMEONE ELSE'S LAB EXPERIMENT
- EXPLANATION SIX: THINKING CREATIVELY: APPROACHES AND LIMITS
- EXPLANATION SIX: THINKING CREATIVELY OR REWINDING THE WATCHMAKER
- EXPLANATION FIVE: SMOLIN'S SELECTION
- EXPLANATION FOUR: ENSEMBLES: AN OVERVIEW
- EXPLANATION FOUR: UNIVERSALITY IN MANY-WORLDS: DOES EVERYTHING POSSIBLE EXIST...SOMEWHERE?
- EXPLANATION FOUR: UNIVERSALITY IN MANY-WORLDS: HAVING YOUR CAKE AND EATING IT TOO.
- EXPLANATION FOUR: UNIVERSALITY IN MANY-WORLDS: INTERPRETING THEIMPOSSIBLE
- EXPLANATION FOUR: UNIVERSALITY IN MANY-WORLDS: PROLOGUE (IMPOSSIBLE BUT TRUE)
- EXPLANATION FOUR: UNIVERSALITY IN TIME: DEJA VIEW
- EXPLANATION FOUR: UNIVERSALITY IN SPACE: BEYOND THE FIELDS WE KNOW
- EXPLANATION FOUR: UNIVERSES ENSEMBLE! (Or--Multiple Choice!)
- EXPLANATION THREE: NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF...CREATION?
- EXPLANATION TWO: HIGH PROBABILITY---POSSIBLY
- EXPLANATION ONE: TAKE A CHANCE
- SIX COINCIDENCE CAUSES
- THE PHILOSOPHER'S FIRING SQUAD
- COINCIDENCE TWELVE: QUANTUM OF SCIENCE or SOMETIMES BOHR-ING IS GOOD
- COINCIDENCE ELEVEN: EXPANDING CONSTANTLY, PART TWO
- COINCIDENCE ELEVEN: EXPANDING CONSTANTLY, PART ONE
- COINCIDENCE TEN: A FINE LINE, or THE ALPHA FAIL
- OBJECTION TWO: THE PUDDLE IN THE DESERT
- COINCIDENCE NINE: ANTIMATTER ANGST AND ANOMALIES
- COINCIDENCE EIGHT: Neutron-Proton Mass Differences, or Sometimes it doesn't Pay to be Neutral
- OBJECTION ONE: The Size of the Universe
- COINCIDENCE SEVEN--You'll Get a Charge Out of This.
- COINCIDENCE SIX: 1/1836 IS YOUR LUCKY NUMBER.
- SETUP FOR COINCIDENCE SIX AND SEVEN
- PAUSE FOR REFLECTION: WAP, SAP, FAP, PAP And CRAP
- COINCIDENCE FIVE, Page 2: HIGHER DIMENSION DILEMMA
- COINCIDENCE FIVE, Page One: TWO-DIMENSIONAL CHARACTERS
- COINCIDENCE FOUR: HOW STRONG A CASE?
- A WEAK CASE FOR A WEAKLESS UNIVERSE
- COINCIDENCE THREE (A Weak Grasp of Timing)
- COINCIDENCE TWO, Page Four (Made Perfect in Weakness)
- COINCIDENCE TWO, Page 3 (Cooking a Supernova)
- COINCIDENCE TWO, Page Two (the Ghostly Particles)
- COINCIDENCE TWO, Page One (The Setup)
- COINCIDENCE ONE, Page Seven (Qualifications and Updates)
- COINCIDENCE ONE, Page Six (Eliminating Aliens)
- COINCIDENCE ONE, Page 5 (Goldilocks and the Just-Right Resonances)
- COINCIDENCE ONE, Page 4 (Remarkable Resonances)
- COINCIDENCE ONE, PAGE 3 (The Briefness of Beryllium)
- COINCIDENCE ONE, Page 2
- COINCIDENCE ONE, Page 1
- INTRODUCTION (EVOLUTION), Page 3
- INTRODUCTION (GROUND RULES), Page 2
- INTRODUCTION , Page 1
Next
Last
First
Prev
- SUMMATIONS
- THE POSSIBILITY OF REVELATION
- THE HIDDEN NATURE OF THE CREATOR
- THE PROVIDENT REALITY AND THE EQUALITY OF RAIN
- FREE MINDS AND FREE WILL
- AN ORDERED UNIVERSE--MADE TO ORDER?
- (A) PURPOSE FOR THE UNIVERSE
- COMMONALITIES
- VOICES AND PRESENCES
- SPECIAL CLAIMS, SPECIFIC EVIDENCE
- DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO
- ARROGANCE AND FAITH
- IMPLICATIONS AND SUGGESTIVE CLUES
- SOCIAL RELATIVISM ISN'T RELEVANT, PART TWO
- SOCIAL RELATIVISM ISN'T RELEVANT, PART ONE
- SOCIOBIOLOGY'S SHORTCOMINGS, PART TWO
- SOCIOBIOLOGY'S SHORTCOMINGS, PART ONE
- DODGING IMPLICATIONS
- EXISTENTIAL CRISIS IN EXISTENCE
- THE PROBLEM OF VALUES
- THE PROBLEM OF EVIL (PROLOGUE)
- TORNADO IN JUNK SCIENCE
- CHOOSING AMONG THE EXPLANATIONS
- EXPLANATION SIX: SOME IMPLICATIONS
- EXPLANATION SIX: SOMEONE ELSE'S LAB EXPERIMENT
- EXPLANATION SIX: THINKING CREATIVELY: APPROACHES AND LIMITS
- EXPLANATION SIX: THINKING CREATIVELY OR REWINDING THE WATCHMAKER
- EXPLANATION FIVE: SMOLIN'S SELECTION
- EXPLANATION FOUR: ENSEMBLES: AN OVERVIEW
- EXPLANATION FOUR: UNIVERSALITY IN MANY-WORLDS: DOES EVERYTHING POSSIBLE EXIST...SOMEWHERE?
- EXPLANATION FOUR: UNIVERSALITY IN MANY-WORLDS: HAVING YOUR CAKE AND EATING IT TOO.
- EXPLANATION FOUR: UNIVERSALITY IN MANY-WORLDS: INTERPRETING THEIMPOSSIBLE
- EXPLANATION FOUR: UNIVERSALITY IN MANY-WORLDS: PROLOGUE (IMPOSSIBLE BUT TRUE)
- EXPLANATION FOUR: UNIVERSALITY IN TIME: DEJA VIEW
- EXPLANATION FOUR: UNIVERSALITY IN SPACE: BEYOND THE FIELDS WE KNOW
- EXPLANATION FOUR: UNIVERSES ENSEMBLE! (Or--Multiple Choice!)
- EXPLANATION THREE: NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF...CREATION?
- EXPLANATION TWO: HIGH PROBABILITY---POSSIBLY
- EXPLANATION ONE: TAKE A CHANCE
- SIX COINCIDENCE CAUSES
- THE PHILOSOPHER'S FIRING SQUAD
- COINCIDENCE TWELVE: QUANTUM OF SCIENCE or SOMETIMES BOHR-ING IS GOOD
- COINCIDENCE ELEVEN: EXPANDING CONSTANTLY, PART TWO
- COINCIDENCE ELEVEN: EXPANDING CONSTANTLY, PART ONE
- COINCIDENCE TEN: A FINE LINE, or THE ALPHA FAIL
- OBJECTION TWO: THE PUDDLE IN THE DESERT
- COINCIDENCE NINE: ANTIMATTER ANGST AND ANOMALIES
- COINCIDENCE EIGHT: Neutron-Proton Mass Differences, or Sometimes it doesn't Pay to be Neutral
- OBJECTION ONE: The Size of the Universe
- COINCIDENCE SEVEN--You'll Get a Charge Out of This.
- COINCIDENCE SIX: 1/1836 IS YOUR LUCKY NUMBER.
- SETUP FOR COINCIDENCE SIX AND SEVEN
- PAUSE FOR REFLECTION: WAP, SAP, FAP, PAP And CRAP
- COINCIDENCE FIVE, Page 2: HIGHER DIMENSION DILEMMA
- COINCIDENCE FIVE, Page One: TWO-DIMENSIONAL CHARACTERS
- COINCIDENCE FOUR: HOW STRONG A CASE?
- A WEAK CASE FOR A WEAKLESS UNIVERSE
- COINCIDENCE THREE (A Weak Grasp of Timing)
- COINCIDENCE TWO, Page Four (Made Perfect in Weakness)
- COINCIDENCE TWO, Page 3 (Cooking a Supernova)
- COINCIDENCE TWO, Page Two (the Ghostly Particles)
- COINCIDENCE TWO, Page One (The Setup)
- COINCIDENCE ONE, Page Seven (Qualifications and Updates)
- COINCIDENCE ONE, Page Six (Eliminating Aliens)
- COINCIDENCE ONE, Page 5 (Goldilocks and the Just-Right Resonances)
- COINCIDENCE ONE, Page 4 (Remarkable Resonances)
- COINCIDENCE ONE, PAGE 3 (The Briefness of Beryllium)
- COINCIDENCE ONE, Page 2
- COINCIDENCE ONE, Page 1
- INTRODUCTION (EVOLUTION), Page 3
- INTRODUCTION (GROUND RULES), Page 2
- INTRODUCTION , Page 1
Next
Last
Author notes
We'll return to inflation later when we discuss various multiverse theories, because a variation of Alan Guth's original inflation idea is crucial to one group of those. Here I'm only examining it as applying to our universe as observed. The rapid expansion of space explains the matching of temperatures in the plus-twenty billion light years of the observable universe–which, since the universe is "only" thirteen billion years old, seems contradictory, since even light couldn't make a causal connection that quickly. It also explains the "flatness". The true universe (of which the observable universe is but a sliver), is much bigger than we observe. The same way early man believed the earth was flat because he was too small to notice the curvature of earth, we observe a universe almost flat–but not quite. Quantum fluctuations in the expanding universe, once it was inflated, grew into irregularities that were the seeds from which galaxies grew and gathered. Inflation is still dependent on some anthropic coincidences. The cosmological constant, for instance, has to be a fantastically small amount to allow inflation to create those irregularities to the degree where they could influence galaxies' formation. Note that even now, inflation's just a theory. Despite COBE's map of the universe (which was in agreement with inflation) and BICEP2's recent dramatic findings, inflation depends on properties of no-spin X and Y bosons under temperatures much higher than we can BEGIN to reproduce. There are other objections, but to my mind, none of them fatal. Do I personally believe such an explanation can explain most of the "anthropic" coincidences? No, I'm not holding my breath–but I would be delighted if someone came up with a theory that would prove me wrong. NEXT: Necessity.
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