Recent content by island

Right, as I've explained, all you need is a complete theory of quantum gravity, or a final theory that justifies these universe and you can claim them all day, but my point is that we have only the observation and the natural quantum expectation without those requirements, and the observation is...

The "natural" quantum expectation derives a vacuum energy density that is about 120 orders of magnitude greater than we observe, so, without a multiverse, there must be a suppression mechanism at work now that constrains the vacuum energy density by at least 120 orders of magnitude. The ratio...

It isn't the unexpected appearance of the coin, it's common link that the balance has to the conditions necessary for carbon based life, and to the structure of the universe, itself. I edited my previous post, sorry. Remember that for a strong interpretation, we're only looking for...

Yes, and it would fall into the category of a "goldilocks constraint" if there is a runaway effect involved... if it was higher, then conditions would rapidly fall off of a cliff to become MUCH higher, and if it is lower, then it falls off of a cliff to be MUCH lower and very far away from...

That isn't the weak anthropic principle or any other principle nor is it even a selection effect.

Wrong, it ignores the strong implications of the observation, so it isn't valid without justification that nobody has, like I said.

The complaints regarding this principle stem from a combination of lack of understanding and emotional dislike of the argument, perhaps mixed in with a few people using anthropic arguments communicating poorly. Wrong, The reason people, (people, as in, anybody that matters), dislike the weak...

Nope, that's only one *weak* variant interpretation, not some hard stone written "proper application'. Either the universe must be the way that it is or it MUST be the way that it is. The first is a weak "selection effect" interpretation and it is NOT observed. The latter is the strong...

That is only one lame variant interpretation of it that is only applicable if there is a multiverse, (for which you need a complete theory of quantum gravity or a final theory to justify), or if you can produce a cosmological principle that explains from first principles why carbon based life is...

Your understanding of the strong anthropic principle is wrong because it is stereotypically incomplete, since the choices are not simply chance or design, as there may very well be a simple physical *need* for carbon based life as a necessary function of the thermodynamic process, (for one...

Well, I personally would not cross him off of my list for that reason until we have a final theory, and if they don't find the higgs boson or other more speculative "new physics", then that theory may very well look a LOT more deterministic than people currently assume without said...

Yes, Lynn Margulis input was the critical differentiation between homeostasis and homeorhesis, which she wrote about in the following book: Symbiotic Planet: A New Look At Evolution. Houston: Basic Book 1999 But you can read some stuff about it all here too...

pgardn, I agree with you about the amount of weight that gets put on the observer as the main functional feature of the AP, and an entropic life principle certainly doesn't place this kind of emphasis on it, but even Carter said that the AP wasn't a complete idea, so everything that's been...

Which is why I said "like" this. The point of the AP is that scientists don't generally even look in this direction because they are already pre-disposed to a Copernican conclusion, but this is the book that Sagan and Schneider wrote in case you are interested in further reading...

You should read this: http://knol.google.com/k/the-anthropic-principle# Because the AP is actually an ideological statement about physicists. The "variant interpretations" are derived from the physics that brought the AP into focus as either, a cosmological principle, (strong) or a selection...