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The Anthropic Principle

The Anthropic Principle. By Madeline Moore. Brandon Carter. Proposed in 1973 by Brandon Carter in Poland It came about during a two week period commemorating the 500 th birthday of Copernicus

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The Anthropic Principle

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  1. The Anthropic Principle By Madeline Moore

  2. Brandon Carter • Proposed in 1973 by Brandon Carter in Poland • It came about during a two week period commemorating the 500th birthday of Copernicus • Carter had audacity to proclaim that humanity did, infact hold a special place in the universe, an assertion that is the opposite of Copernicus’s now universally accepted theory

  3. Weak Anthropic Principle • In its most basic form it states that the conditions we observe in the universe must be compatible with our own existence. • Any universe models that do not accept the possibility of the development of life are rejected. • Also, that by our existence as carbon-based intelligent creatures, we impose a sort of selection effect on the universe. • An example is that in a universe where one of the cosmological constants that govern nature was changed, such as gravity, we would not be here to wonder why gravity is the strength it is.

  4. Fred Hoyle • Said the WAP predicted the existence of an excited state of the carbon atom. • The excited state allows the triple-alpha nuclear reaction to create carbon in stars. • Carbon atoms are the basis of life on Earth, therefore implying that this necessary excited state must exist

  5. Attraction to Strong Anthropic Principle • Gives meaning to the universe and that meaning is us • The apparent “specialness” of the universe and the fact that we are here tells us something • However, there is no basis for concluding our universe is so special. • We have one example, and no way of knowing what might be possible or what the alternatives might mean.

  6. Strong Anthropic Principle • The universe had to bring humanity into being • “The Universe must have those properties which allow life to develop within it at some stage in it’s history.” – (The Anthropic Cosmological Principle, p. 21) • Our presence now somehow effected the initial conditions such that we could eventually come into existence. • Therefore, the purpose of the Universe is to create life, because the conditions necessarily existed so that Earthly life can exist.

  7. WAP Contemplated • Discovery of myriads of other stars and galaxies implies there are other planets throughout space that we cannot detect • Studying the appropriate conditions of our planet that sustain us and bring us into existence, we can conclude the possibility of multiple universes.

  8. Creation Questions Remain a Mystery • The WAP and SAP are not testable scientific hypotheses. • We have no scientific basis for any conclusion. • Therefore, the why of creation remain a mystery.

  9. Works Cited • John F. Hawley and Katherine A. Holcomb. Foundations of Modern Cosmology. New York: Oxford University Press, inc., 2005. • http://www.physics.sfsu.edu/~lwilliam/sota/anth/anthropic_principle_index.html • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropic_principle

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