Reasons To Believe, Spokane Chapter

December, 2003 Newsletter

Chapter Meeting: Sunday December 14, 3-5pm.

We invite you to attend our monthly meeting.

A presentation is offered to the group, followed by discussion and questions, and we conclude with snacks and a little club business. This time we’ll begin a series based on Fred Heeren’s video series, “How to Talk to a Skeptic. We’re pretty impressed with it. We always try to start and end our meetings right on time. If you need directions, don’t be afraid to call the phone number below.

Date: Sunday, December 14
Time: 3-5 p.m.
Hosts: Dan and Cathy Bakken
Location: 13003 N. Miami Ct, Mead
Phone: 466-2693 (for directions, etc.)

Dan Bakken to Speak on the Christmas Star Dec. 14 at Garland Church

Dan Bakken, president of our chapter, will speak at Garland Church on Sunday, December 14, at 10:30 a.m. in Room G206 (second floor). He’ll cover the magi, what they could have seen, and other facets of the Christmas Star story.

Location: 2011 W. Garland (4 blocks west of Maple)

Questions? Call Cathy Bakken, 466-2693

Infinite Universes: Fact or Faith?

The idea that there may be other universes – even an infinite number of universes – is popping up frequently on science television programs and in popular science magazines. This concept is sometimes called parallel universes or the multiverse theory. These programs and articles even express the hope that we will eventually be able to detect these universes. Why is this concept so popular these days?

The Anthropic Principle

Scientists now readily admit that there is a vast amount of evidence for design in our universe. They can see that our universe looks as if it was fine-tuned to allow life – specifically human life – to exist in it. This concept is called the Anthropic Principle – anthro meaning man.

If the laws of nature in our universe were even slightly different than they are, life couldn’t exist here. For example, if gravity were one percent stronger or weaker and the sun wouldn't shine properly. (For a list of almost 50 design characteristics for the universe, visit www.reasons.org, and click on “evidence for design”.)

Not only that, scientists can see no natural reason why our universe should have been set up this way. Some scientists have reacted using almost theological language. Cosmologist Fred Hoyle said that some "superintellect" must have "monkeyed with the physics"; Physicist Freeman Dyson has suggested that somehow "the universe knew we were coming."

Responses to the Anthropic Principle

Scientists and thinking people can respond to these facts in a variety of ways.

“There are four competing ideas about why these numbers have the values that they do. One, of course, is that God willed it that way. The second, which is perhaps a non-deistic restatement of the first, is that when the theory of everything is worked out properly, it will be seen that these particular values of these particular constants are necessarily inevitable. The third is that they emerged by blind chance; a happy coincidence. The fourth is that they are actually a mixture of chance and necessity. It is chance that this particular universe fits, but because there is an indefinite (in effect, an infinite) number of universes.”

From “There was an old lady who swallowed a fly”, in The Economist, January 5, 2002.

Naturalists supporting the infinite universe theory hope to diminish the importance of our universe’s fine-tuned characteristics by saying, “we’re just one lucky universe in an infinite number of universes, one where it was possible for life to arise”. They hope to replace a divine designer with a throw of the dice.

As Tom Flynn, editor of Free Inquiry Magazine said in the Summer 2003 issue,

“Fine-tuning arguments are vulnerable on two fronts. One can suggest that ours is merely one of a huge, perhaps infinite, number of parallel universes. The fact that our universe is perfectly configured to encourage the rise of our sort of life is less remarkable if it is one among trillions. On the other hand, one can simply observe that, if our universe had been configured other than as it was, then we simply wouldn't be around to wonder at it.”

(We’ll discuss Flynn’s second point next month.)

Where did this concept come from?

The multiverse theory came out of a certain approach to quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics is an attempt to understand the universe at the level of the smallest building blocks of matter and energy, which are often called quantum entities.

When scientists study this, they find that they can’t accurately measure these quantum entities, because they can behave either as a wave or as a particle. They can know the position of a particle/wave, but not its speed; or they can know the speed of a particle/wave, but not its position. This is called the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle.

Some scientists have postulated that at any instant when a measurement of a quantum entity is made that has more than one possible outcome, the universe split into two or more universes, each corresponding to a possible future.

To most physicists, such as Stephen Hawking, this way of thinking about quantum mechanics is just a mathematical exercise to help them understand the universe. They do not believe that there really are other universes. But others have taken it literally, believing that these other universes are real.

Other Roads to Multiverses

Other scientists with other ideas about how multiple universes may come into existence.

American astrophysicist Richard Gott, in thinking about the universe’s creation, noticed that we can understand the universe only back to 10-34 seconds after its creation. He suggests that because we can’t know anything about this very small period of time, that anything is possible within that time, including the creation of an infinite number of universes.

Canadian cosmologist Lee Smolin thinks that at the centers of black holes, where the laws of physics completely break down, that anything can happen there, including the creation of a new universe. The newly created universes are very similar to the one in which the black hole existed, thus allowing for the creation of more black holes, and thus more new universes. It also happens that planets can more easily exist in universes where the laws of nature allow black holes to exist. So life would also more easily arise in those universes.

Is there Any Proof?

A few scientists believe we can actually interact with these universes. David Deutsch, a quantum physicist at Oxford University, believes that we can develop computers that can operate in parallel with computers in other universes and run trillions of times faster.

However, because of the way the universe is set up, our universe can never overlap or touch any other universe. They are not causally connected. No one has come up with a test that can prove decisively that other universes exist, and the nature of the universe is such that we will probably never know.

Which takes more faith – believing God created the universe, of which we have ample evidence from the fine-tuning of our universe, galaxy, solar system and world, or believing in other universes which we can never detect?

As Martin Gardner said in Skeptical Inquirer in September, 2001,

“Surely the conjecture that there is just one universe and its Creator is infinitely simpler and easier to believe than that there are countless billions upon billions of worlds[his term for universes], constantly increasing in number and created by nobody. I can only marvel at the low state to which today's philosophy of science has fallen.”

End

Web Resources:

An Infinity of Universes, by Dr. Hugh Ross.

Quantum Mechanics in Plain English, by Erica Carlson.

Quantum Mechanics, a Modern Goliath, by Dr. Hugh Ross.

Design and the Anthropic Principle, by Dr. Hugh Ross.

Report on Chapter Activities – and More

You may recall from the November newsletter that Dan Bakken was scheduled to speak at the Messiah Lutheran Church. Unfortunately, we had to cancel, because Dan fell and had to have about 20 stitches in his face. He wasn’t able to speak very clearly, and looked kind of – well, scary. We will reschedule this event for some time in January. Thanks for your prayers for Dan, everyone. His infection is ended, and most of the stitches are out.

Dan was also scheduled to speak at an evangelistic youth camp. Fortunately, charter chapter member Ray Luse was able to take his place and give the talk, which was about evidence for God from astronomy.

We’d like to ask for your prayers for Ken Samples, a staff member of Reasons To Believe working at their headquarters in California. He has been having serious health problems, involving both his brain and lungs.

Resources To Know About:

Reasons To Believe’s Web Site: www.reasons.org. Many useful documents are available, as well as their daily new “reason to believe” from the latest scientific research.

Watch (or record) the "Reasons To Believe" television show. Airs on Thursday mornings, 2:30 A.M. Pacific time on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). An archive of recent shows is also available at www.reasons.org.

Listen to the Creation Update Web Cast on the Internet

Who We Are and What We Do: Your Local Reasons To Believe Chapter

We’re here to answer your questions and help local Christians and churches get more answers about science and the bible issues.

Our monthly meetings enable training and dissemination of new reasons to believe.
We help people access Reasons To Believe resources, including the Apologist Training Program.
We offer trained apologists to speak at local churches and other events to share these exciting discoveries.
We provide a forum for members to discuss the latest scientific discoveries.
We bring national speakers into the area to promote the scientific reliability of the Bible.
We build alliances with churches, ministries, and groups to share the Reasons To Believe message.
We help Christians overcome their fear of science and equip them to use it as an effective tool in spreading the Gospel.
We reach out to skeptics and non-believers with gentleness and respect, encouraging them to evaluate their worldviews.

Local Chapter Contact Information:

For more information about the Reasons To Believe Spokane chapter, contact:

Phone: Ray Luse (509) 465-8562
Email:
Web Page: www.reasons.org/chapters
Newsletter Questions? Cathy Bakken, editor, cgbakken@yahoo.com