The Anthropic Principle

“We see the universe the way it is because we exist. It is a bit like a rich person living in a wealthy area not seeing any property.”

- Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time

The Anthropic Principle, or the observation selection effect, proposed by Robert Dicke, states that the fine tuning of the universe is due to the fact that there is life to observe it.

According to the weak anthropic principle, in an infinitely large universe, in terms of space and time, intelligent life can only grow in the regions where space and time are finite or limited. According to the strong anthropic principle, there are either many universes or many regions of a singular universe, each with its own initial configuration and laws of science. However, only a few of these can support life, and even fewer intelligent life. Even if were to find extra-terrestrial life, the odds of them resembling our own complicated structure would be negligible.

Often, when we find ourselves wondering or, perhaps, even admiring the functioning of our universe, we attribute it to a deity. However, a more scientific approach to this question would be the anthropic principle. The arrangement of the universe does not exist because of us, we exist because of the arrangement of the universe. We, observers, exist because the universe allows us to come into existence in order to ask the question of why are things the way they are.

“It is either coincidence piled on top of coincidence," said Hollus, "or it is deliberate design.”

- Robert J. Sawyer, Calculating God