ID's Anthropic Principle

by Allen Williams


What exactly is the Anthropic Principle you might ask? The Anthropic or Goldilocks principle if you prefer, is a theory that claims Intelligence is behind the structure and order of the Cosmos. It infers a precise set of conditions that must develop in a specific order for life to exist.

Brandon Carter, an astrophysicist from Cambridge University presented a paper in which he describes certain strange and inexplicable behavior in the world of particle physics and astronomy. They seemed to indicate that the whole universe had been constructed and maintained for the purpose of bringing into existence, intelligent life. This means, "..that all of the seemingly arbitrary and unrelated constants in physics have one strange thing in common, these are precisely the values you need if you want to have a universe capable of producing life." Sir Isaac Newton put it this way, "The most beautiful system of the Sun, planets and comets could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful being."

The Anthropic Principle defines a solar architecture and set of conditions that must be exact in sequence and function for life to exist in any solar system. If a galaxy has too many stars then the elements of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen etc., can not form from the proton rich radiation. If there are not enough stars, then only hydrogen and helium will form.

The ideal galaxy configuration for life sustaining conditions occurs in spiral galaxies. Spiral galaxies with a certain kind of bulge offer the most stable planetary orbit about a star. However, no more than 2% of the stars in the universe have orbiting planets.

Spiral Galaxy

The orbits of the planets in our own solar system are nearly round and planar, i.e. two dimensional, including the moon, and optimally positioned to support the eco-life of earth. The moon is exactly in the right position to stabilize the earth's rotation and to facilitate oxygenation of the seas via the rise and fall of the tides. Planets in nearby solar systems have elliptical orbits, making the sustenance of life more difficult.

Most spiral galaxies observed are ellipsoid so just 6% of the galaxies in the universe are the right kind of spiral. If the ‘bulge’ in the arch of the spiral is too large, the life-supporting planet receives too much deadly proton radiation from nearby stars. Insufficient arch in the spiral causes disruptive gravitational forces and elliptical orbits around a sun. And, not enough cosmic dust for the formation of new planets occurs under such conditions. A 100,000 light years defines an optimal bulge.

Gas, dust and newly formed stars occur in the spiral arm as well as the heavy elements.

Life conditions are most favorable when the planet is located along this spiral 'arm' as is the earth. This area contains sufficient gas, dust and a 'just right' number of stars to ensure the formation of key elements such as carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and iron etc. to sustain life. Fluorine, an essential element in the formation of certain proteins is only formed in the binary part of a White Dwarf.

Iron, Sulfur, Copper and Silver are formed from dying stars. Heavy elements are generated when stars go Super Nova. The dead Stars then bequeath their ashes to the formation of new stars and planets.

Dead Stars ---> ashes---> New stars and planets

There are some 202 physical conditions that must be ‘just right’ to sustain life. If this precise set of conditions defining and regulating planetary orbit were absent or was to occur out of sequence, life as we know it could not exist or would be vastly different. For example, If there was a 1% difference in the sun’s mass, the only possible life on earth would be bacteria. If the earth was one half percent closer to the sun all water would evaporate. The dew point would be elevated and a huge desert would be created. If the earth was one half-percent farther away from the sun, all its water would be frozen.

If the nuclear strong force between atoms were greater by just two percent, protons could not have formed, resulting in a universe without atoms. But, if the nuclear strong force were weaker by five percent, ours would be a universe without stars.

The probability that all-202 conditions would align to create life from random processes

Based on Darwin’s natural selection is one chance in 10217 power.To understand this a bit better, imagine that you have 10 pennies in your pocket sequentially numbered. The probability that you could reach into your pocket and pull out all ten pennies in exact numerical sequence is one chance in a billion. Probabilities of1080 are generally considered impossible.

Ann Coulter, author of 5 best sellers including, "Godless: The Church of Liberalism" has noted, "Evolution isn’t just a theory with a gap in the evidence, the whole theory is a gap." Here are some of the many ‘gaps’ in the theory:

  • The star Cyrus was described as a Red Dwarf in the writings of Ptolemy and others but today it is a White Dwarf. The transition from Red to White Dwarf took just 1700 years. Evolution claims this transition requires 100,000 years.
  • Nickel is a scarce element on earth. However micro meteors are rich in nickel. If the earth is millions of years old, then the geological column should contain nickel from meteor impact. The nickel in the geological column would wash down to the ocean over time from the actions of rain. However, no micro meteors were found in the geological column or nickel in core drills of the ocean's floor.
  • The ocean is getting saltier by the year. If the earth is millions of years old, then why hasn’t the maximum salt-water solubility been reached?
  • There should be more Helium than Hydrogen in the atmosphere for an old earth because of radioactive decay.

Radioactive dating problems: Potassium-Argon radiometric dating tests on known 168 year old rocks dated at 160 million to 3 billion years.

Egress: Uranium and rubidium salts are water-soluble and can be leached from rocks by water.

Ingress: Rock may contain daughter elements such as Lead 206, 207, 208 when it coalesces.

Intelligent Design is "Creationism in a cheap tuxedo," said Nicholas Matzke, project information specialist for the National Center for Science Education in Oakland, Calif., which advocates for the teaching of evolution." - CBSNews.com 12/19/2004

So ‘real scientists’ aren’t skeptical of Darwin's theory? How about this from "The Silence of Christmas and the Scream of the Tsunami: Soul Speak in a Suicidal Culture." Rev. Ravi Zachiarias notes that"..a rude awakening has come to us as an earthquake of gigantic proportions rocked continents the day after Christmas {2005 tsutsani-Ed.}, and tens of thousands of people were swept into the sea..It is a self-defeating question for the scientific naturalist to ask why this happened because very few animals were lost in the tragedy. They intuitively sensed the danger that approached and fled long before the water could reach the shores."

"What happens to scientific naturalism's theory of evolution here, when creatures on the lower evolutionary scale were smarter than those higher up the scale?...As a matter of fact, I even heard one person say that this is nature's way of balancing the numbers in a crowded world. Naturalism breaks under the weight of its own argument."

Evolution is merely a religion, its proponents worship the evolutionary god of time, chance and matter. Clarrence Darrow (1925 Scopes trial) stated "The idea that we should only teach one theory of Origins is the height of bigotry." The public should be aware that evolution is the only state sanctioned, court protected scientific theory in the history of the United States, forcibly taught in the nation’s public education system, sponsored and approved by the federal courts. See Epperson v. Arkansas, 1968.

Evolution is a profound testimony to the hypocrisy of postmodern science.