Life Requires too much to be Random
Considering the many variables that must co-exist, each within certain parameters, the idea of life coming from a random beginning is irrational.
The Bible was the first source to speak of the earth as round or spherical. Around 1500 BC most people believed that the earth sat on something, but the Bible speaks about it floating in space: “He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing” (Job 26:7). Furthermore, Isaiah 40:22, written from 700-600 B.C., states, “It is he that sits upon the circle of the earth.”
The paradigm of a spherical Earth appeared in Greek philosophy with Pythagoras around 500 B.C., while most Pre-Socratics retained the flat Earth model.1 Around 330 BC, Aristotle accepted the spherical shape of the Earth on empirical grounds. After Aristotle, the spherical belief slowly spread.
The shape, having been determined as spherical, was only the first milestone. Its exact characteristics were later found to be so fine-tuned for life that there was no chance of randomness. As cosmologist Edward Harrison said, “The fine-tuning of the universe proves prima facie evidence of deistic design.”2 Note: Prima facie is defined as ‘accepted as correct until proved otherwise.’
In a recent survey of globular cluster 47 Tucanae, scientists found zero extra solar planets out of 37,000 stars searched (Astronomers Ponder Lack of Planets in Globular Cluster from the Hubble Space Telescope).3 Note: An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet that orbits a star other than the Sun.
47 Tucanae (NGC 104) or just 47 Tuc is a globular cluster located in the constellation Tucana. It is about 16,700 light years away from Earth, and 120 light years across. It can be seen with the naked eye, with a visual apparent magnitude of 4.9. Its number comes not from the Flamsteed catalogue, but the more obscure 1801 "Allgemeine Beschreibung und Nachweisung der Gestirne nebst Verzeichniss" compiled by Johann Elert Bode. Wikipedia
The probability that the galaxy would be the right size to support life, the right galaxy type and proper location for life are each 10%.4 The chance that all three exist simultaneously is 0.001 or 0.1%. The chance that supernovae eruptions and white dwarf binaries exist is 1% each or both together, 0.01%. The last two items relate to the fusion of two planetary structures into one.5
All five of these characteristics must be present for life to exist. Galaxy size is important, as those that are too large tend to have several violent events that disturb solar orbits. Small galaxies have insufficient material to maintain star formation for long enough periods to form rocky planets.
Supernova: the explosion of a star, possibly caused by gravitational collapse, during which the star's luminosity increases by as much as 20 magnitudes and most of the star's mass is blown away at very high velocity, sometimes leaving behind an extremely dense core. Freedictionary.com
Life simply does not appear, or it would be apparent in other galaxies and on other planets. The chance that the necessary five variables would all exist together is 0.0000001 [10% x 10% x 10% x 1% x 1%] or .00001%.
If by some incredible miracle, the galaxy had all five variables listed above, there are still fundamental constants needed for a universe capable of life. Additionally, each constant must exist within defined maximum deviations for each. If even one is outside the maximum deviation or missing altogether, life could not exist.
A white dwarf, also called a degenerate dwarf, is a stellar remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very dense: its mass is comparable to that of the Sun, and its volume is comparable to that of Earth. A white dwarf's faint luminosity comes from the emission of stored thermal energy. en.wikipedia.org
First, the ground state of helium (He), beryllium (Be), carbon (C), and oxygen (O) must exist within a maximum deviation of ± 4%.6 Second, the mass of a neutron must be within ± 0.1% and an electron must have a proton ratio not exceeding ± 1:1037.7 Third, the electromagnetic force relative to gravity must be within ± 1:1040 and the expansion rate of the universe within ± 1:1055.8 Finally, the cosmological constant must be within ± 1:10120.9 The cosmological constant is best described as a self-stretching property of the space-time fabric of the universe. The constant would imply that space, independent of matter and independent of any heat or light, stretches itself.10
“The fine-tuning necessary for life to exist on a planet is nothing compared with the fine-tuning required for the universe to exist at all. For example, astrophysicists now know that the values of the four fundamental forces—gravity, the electromagnetic force, and the “strong” and “weak” nuclear forces—were determined less than one millionth of a second after the big bang. Alter any one value and the universe could not exist. For instance, if the ratio between the nuclear strong force and the electromagnetic force had been off by the tiniest fraction of the tiniest fraction—by even one part in 100,000,000,000,000,000—then no stars could have ever formed at all.”11
Theoretical physicist Paul Davies has said that “the appearance of design is overwhelming” and Oxford professor Dr. John Lennox has said “the more we get to know about our universe, the more the hypothesis that there is a Creator . . . gains in credibility as the best explanation of why we are here.”12
Changing a constant more than the amount indicated could result in a universe that does not even contain matter. In many other instances, only hydrogen or light elements would exist (making life impossible). The longevity of the universe would change with any variation in the last two parameters. Many of these deviations would result in the universe that would have ended billions of years ago.
The anthropic principle states that the universe is designed specifically for human life. This principle holds that “conditions that are observed in the universe must allow the observer to exist.”13 Scientists holding to the weak anthropic principle believe that there must be some undiscovered underlying principle that explains why the universe seems to be designed. Those holding to the strong anthropic principle believe that the underlying reason that the universe appears to be designed is because the ultimate Intelligent Designer – God - has designed it.
The standard way to test any theory is to gather data and see which version fits the data better. So far, the strong anthropic principle fits the data better. For example, the Cosmological Constant (the universe neither contracts, nor expands) is, by far, the most constrained constant discovered to date. Initial observations suggested that the value is the closest value to zero (within 1 part in 10120) known in the universe.14 Subsequent observations suggest that it may be closer to 1 part in 10240. The degree of fine-tuning necessary for life to exist has led some scientists to believe in Intelligent Design.
Authors Idit Zehavi and Avishai Dekel summed it up by writing, "This type of universe, however, seems to require a degree of fine-tuning of the initial conditions that is in apparent conflict with 'common wisdom.’"15
The low probability of life in a galaxy, along with the small deviations of needed variables for life to exist in a universe, is strongly in favor of intelligent design. These five parameters, if all were to be within the maximum deviation, is virtually impossible by chance. The formula (4% x 0.1% x 1.104% x 1.1055% x 1.0120%) shows the likelihood of all constants occurring by mere chance is 4.94047-11 [0.0000000000494047].
If you were to factor in the chances of all five constants required for life with the five characteristics required for a galaxy to support life, you can reasonably call the chance 0%. In fact, you could say the chances are so remote that nothing, but divine intervention could possibly bring all of these factors together, within their needed tolerances, for life to exist.
Biologist Dr. B. G. Ranganathan said, “…the probability of life originating from accident is comparable to the unabridged dictionary resulting from an explosion in a printing shop.”16 Moreover, this only speaks to the likelihood of any life at all, rather than the most highly complex forms such as human beings—let alone all the different kinds of life that exist today.
Hugh Ross, “I mathematically determined that the Bible was more reliable by far than some of the laws of physics. For example, I knew from studying physics there is roughly a one in 1080 (that’s the number one with eighty zeros following) chance of a sudden reversal in the second law of thermodynamics. But I had calculated (with the help of skeptical friends) the probability of the chance fulfillment of thirteen Bible predictions about specific people and their specific actions. My conservative estimate showed less than one chance in 10138 that such predictions could come true without supernatural intervention.17 That meant the Bible was 1058 times more reliable than the second law of thermodynamics on just this one set of predictions. I also derived a similar conclusion based on the many instances in which the Bible accurately forecasted future scientific discoveries.18
References:
1. D.R. Dicks, Early Greek Astronomy to Aristotle (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1970), 72-198.
2. Edward Harrison, Masks of the Universe (New York, Collier Books, Macmillan, 1985) 252, 263
3. http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2000/33/
4. R. Cowen, 1992, Were spiral galaxies once more common? Science News 142: 390. Dressler, et al. 1994. New images of the distant rich cluster, CL 0939+4713 with WFPC2. Astrophysical Journal Letters 435: L23-L26.
5. http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2000/33/
6. http://www.godandscience.org/slideshow/sld020.html
7. http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/designun.html
8. Ross, Hugh (2011-12-24). The Creator and the Cosmos: How the Latest Scientific Discoveries Reveal God (Kindle Locations 587-589). Reasons To Believe. Kindle Edition.
9. Eric Metaxas, Wall Street Journal Article, Science Increasingly Makes the Case for God, The odds of life existing on another planet grow ever longer. Intelligent design, anyone? Dec. 25, 2014.
10. Jay W. Richards, List of Fine-tuning Attributes, Research for the Center of Science and Culture, A Program of Discovery Institute,
11. http://www.discovery.org/f/11011.
12. Ibid.
13. Metaxas, Ibid.
14. Merriam-Webster dictionary online, www.merriam-webster.com.
15. Lawrence M. Krauss, 461, 465.
16. Idit Zehavi and Avishai Dekel, Nature 401, (16 September 1999),252-254.
17. Dr. B. G. Ranganathan, (Origins? Pennsylvania: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1988), 15.
18. Hugh Ross, “Fulfilled Prophecy: Evidence for the Reliability of the Bible”, Reasons To Believer, (Pasadena, CA: 1975).Hugh Ross, “A Scientist Who Looked and Was Found”, Reasons To Believe (Pasadena, CA: 1988).