Has anyone tried Victor Stenger's MonkeyGod toy universe program?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around Victor Stenger's "MonkeyGod" toy universe program, exploring its purpose and functionality. Participants inquire about the program's capabilities in relation to varying physical constants and its implications for the formation of stars and elements necessary for life.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Conceptual clarification, Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses curiosity about the program and shares a link to Stenger's website, noting its connection to his book "The Fallacy of Fine-Tuning."
  • Another participant questions the purpose of the calculator, indicating a lack of clarity regarding its function.
  • A third participant provides a link to a PDF that offers some explanation, suggesting that the program allows users to manipulate basic physical constants to observe the potential for star formation and chemical diversity.
  • This same participant expresses skepticism about the program's current state, indicating that it may require improvements and noting the absence of firsthand experiences from others in the discussion.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

There is no consensus on the effectiveness or clarity of the "MonkeyGod" program, with participants expressing varying levels of understanding and interest in its application.

Contextual Notes

Some assumptions about the program's functionality and its relationship to Stenger's book remain unverified, and the discussion lacks detailed technical specifications or user experiences.

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Has anyone tried Victor Stenger's "MonkeyGod" toy universe program?

I haven't yet.
http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/vstenger/Cosmo/monkey.html

I heard about it on the Cosmic Horizons blog:
http://cosmic-horizons.blogspot.com/2011/09/peer-review-fallacy-of-fine-tuning.html
which was reviewing the Stenger book called "The Fallacy of Fine-Tuning"

==sample quote from review==

... not particularly satisfied by it all, although this book does demonstrate that some of the claims of fine tuning are not as fine-tuned as originally thought. In fact, the author has a little web interface called MonkeyGod which allows you to make your own universe and see if you will get stars and heavy elements (the ingredients of life).

In summary, this is something we should probably give some serious thought to, and this book is not a bad place to start.
==endquote==
 
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What's the point to the calculator?
 


Drakkith, there is some explanation here (but not enough)
http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/vstenger/Cosmo/MonkeyGod.pdf

He refers to a book he wrote over 10 years ago. Apparently this calculator goes with the book.
I think the aim is to let you vary some a few basic physical constants and see whether you still get long-lived stars and a range of chemical elements to support complex chemistry.

Looks to me like there's a lot of room for improvement. I was hoping someone who had tried it would explain, but it looks like no one here has or wants to.
 
Last edited by a moderator:


Ah ok.
 

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