The fine-tuned universe is the hypothesis that, because "life as we know it" could not exist if the constants of nature – such as the

electron charge C, or c, is the third letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''cee'' (pronounced ), plural ''cees''. History "C ...

, the

gravitational constant The gravitational constant is an empirical physical constant involved in the calculation of gravitational effects in Sir Isaac Newton's law of universal gravitation and in Albert Einstein's general relativity, theory of general relativity. It ...

and others – had been even slightly different, the universe must be tuned specifically for life.Gribbin. J and Rees. M, ''Cosmic Coincidences: Dark Matter, Mankind, and Anthropic Cosmology'' pp. 7, 269, 1989, In practice, this hypothesis is formulated in terms of dimensionless physical constants.

History

In 1913,

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

Lawrence Joseph Henderson Lawrence Joseph Henderson (June 3, 1878 – February 10, 1942) was an American physiologist, chemist, biologist, philosopher, and sociologist. He became one of the leading biochemists of the early 20th century. His work contributed to the Hend ...

wrote ''The Fitness of the Environment,'' one of the first books to explore fine tuning in the universe. Henderson discusses the importance of water and the environment to living things, pointing out that life as it exists on Earth depends entirely on Earth's very specific environmental conditions, especially the prevalence and properties of water. In 1961, physicist Robert H. Dicke argued that certain forces in physics, such as

gravity In physics, gravity (), also known as gravitation or a gravitational interaction, is a fundamental interaction, a mutual attraction between all massive particles. On Earth, gravity takes a slightly different meaning: the observed force b ...

and

electromagnetism In physics, electromagnetism is an interaction that occurs between particles with electric charge via electromagnetic fields. The electromagnetic force is one of the four fundamental forces of nature. It is the dominant force in the interacti ...

, must be perfectly fine-tuned for life to exist in the universe. Astronomer

Fred Hoyle Sir Fred Hoyle (24 June 1915 – 20 August 2001) was an English astronomer who formulated the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis and was one of the authors of the influential B2FH paper, B2FH paper. He also held controversial stances on oth ...

argued for a fine-tuned universe: "From 1953 onward, Willy Fowler and I have always been intrigued by the remarkable relation of ..and your fixing would have to be just where these levels are actually found to be. ..A common sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a superintellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as with chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature." In his 1983 book ''The Intelligent Universe'', Hoyle wrote, "The list of anthropic properties, apparent accidents of a non-biological nature without which carbon-based and hence human life could not exist, is large and impressive." Belief in the fine-tuned universe led to the expectation that the

Large Hadron Collider The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator. It was built by the CERN, European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) between 1998 and 2008, in collaboration with over 10,000 scientists, ...

would produce evidence of

physics beyond the Standard Model Physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM) refers to the theoretical developments needed to explain the deficiencies of the Standard Model, such as the inability to explain the fundamental parameters of the standard model, the strong CP problem, neut ...

, such as

supersymmetry Supersymmetry is a Theory, theoretical framework in physics that suggests the existence of a symmetry between Particle physics, particles with integer Spin (physics), spin (''bosons'') and particles with half-integer spin (''fermions''). It propo ...

, but by 2012 it had not produced evidence for supersymmetry at the energy scales it was able to probe.

Motivation

Physicist

Paul Davies Paul Charles William Davies (born 22 April 1946) is an English physicist, writer and broadcaster, a professor in Arizona State University and director of BEYOND: Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science. He is affiliated with the Institute ...

said: "There is now broad agreement among physicists and cosmologists that the Universe is in several respects 'fine-tuned' for life. But the conclusion is not so much that the Universe is fine-tuned for life; rather it is fine-tuned for the building blocks and environments that life requires". He also said that

anthropic Anthropic PBC is an American artificial intelligence (AI) startup company founded in 2021. Anthropic has developed a family of large language models (LLMs) named Claude as a competitor to OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini. According to the ...

' reasoning fails to distinguish between minimally biophilic universes, in which life is permitted, but only marginally possible, and optimally biophilic universes, in which life flourishes because

biogenesis Spontaneous generation is a Superseded scientific theories, superseded scientific theory that held that living creatures could arise from abiotic component, non-living matter and that such processes were commonplace and regular. It was Hypoth ...

occurs frequently". Among scientists who find the evidence persuasive, a variety of natural explanations have been proposed, such as the existence of multiple universes introducing a

survivorship bias Survivorship bias or survival bias is the logical error of concentrating on entities that passed a selection process while overlooking those that did not. This can lead to incorrect conclusions because of incomplete data. Survivorship bias is ...

under the

anthropic principle In cosmology, the anthropic principle, also known as the observation selection effect, is the proposition that the range of possible observations that could be made about the universe is limited by the fact that observations are only possible in ...

. The premise of the fine-tuned universe assertion is that a small change in several of the physical constants would make the universe radically different.

Stephen Hawking Stephen William Hawking (8January 194214March 2018) was an English theoretical physics, theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author who was director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge. Between ...

observed: "The laws of science, as we know them at present, contain many fundamental numbers, like the size of the electric charge of the electron and the ratio of the masses of the proton and the electron. ... The remarkable fact is that the values of these numbers seem to have been very finely adjusted to make possible the development of life".

, 1988. ''A Brief History of Time,'' Bantam Books, , pp. 7, 125. For example, if the strong nuclear force were 2% stronger than it is (i.e. if the

coupling constant In physics, a coupling constant or gauge coupling parameter (or, more simply, a coupling), is a number that determines the strength of the force exerted in an interaction. Originally, the coupling constant related the force acting between tw ...

representing its strength were 2% larger) while the other constants were left unchanged,

diproton Helium (He) ( standard atomic weight: ) has nine known isotopes, but only helium-3 (He) and helium-4 (He) are stable. All radioisotopes are short-lived; the longest-lived is He with half-life . The least stable is He, with half-life (), though He ...

s would be stable; according to Davies, hydrogen would fuse into them instead of

deuterium Deuterium (hydrogen-2, symbol H or D, also known as heavy hydrogen) is one of two stable isotopes of hydrogen; the other is protium, or hydrogen-1, H. The deuterium nucleus (deuteron) contains one proton and one neutron, whereas the far more c ...

and

helium Helium (from ) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, non-toxic, inert gas, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. Its boiling point is ...

.Paul Davies, 1993. ''The Accidental Universe'', Cambridge University Press
pp. 70–71
/ref> This would drastically alter the physics of

star A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...

s, and presumably preclude the existence of life similar to what we observe on Earth. The diproton's existence would short-circuit the slow fusion of hydrogen into deuterium. Hydrogen would fuse so easily that it is likely that all the universe's hydrogen would be consumed in the first few minutes after the

Big Bang The Big Bang is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models based on the Big Bang concept explain a broad range of phenomena, including th ...

. This "diproton argument" is disputed by other physicists, who calculate that as long as the increase in strength is less than 50%, stellar fusion could occur despite the existence of stable diprotons. The precise formulation of the idea is made difficult by the fact that it is not yet known how many independent physical constants there are. The

standard model of particle physics The Standard Model of particle physics is the theory describing three of the four known fundamental forces (electromagnetic, weak and strong interactions – excluding gravity) in the universe and classifying all known elementary particles. It ...

has 25 freely adjustable parameters and

general relativity General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity, and as Einstein's theory of gravity, is the differential geometry, geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current description of grav ...

has one more, the

cosmological constant In cosmology, the cosmological constant (usually denoted by the Greek capital letter lambda: ), alternatively called Einstein's cosmological constant, is a coefficient that Albert Einstein initially added to his field equations of general rel ...

, which is known to be nonzero but profoundly small in value. Because physicists have not developed an empirically successful theory of

quantum gravity Quantum gravity (QG) is a field of theoretical physics that seeks to describe gravity according to the principles of quantum mechanics. It deals with environments in which neither gravitational nor quantum effects can be ignored, such as in the v ...

, there is no known way to combine quantum mechanics, on which the standard model depends, and general relativity. Without knowledge of this more complete theory suspected to underlie the standard model, it is impossible to definitively count the number of truly independent physical constants. In some candidate theories, the number of independent physical constants may be as small as one. For example, the cosmological constant may be a fundamental constant but attempts have also been made to calculate it from other constants, and according to the author of one such calculation, "the small value of the cosmological constant is telling us that a remarkably precise and totally unexpected relation exists among all the parameters of the

Standard Model of particle physics The Standard Model of particle physics is the theory describing three of the four known fundamental forces (electromagnetic, weak and strong interactions – excluding gravity) in the universe and classifying all known elementary particles. It ...

, the bare cosmological constant and unknown physics".

Examples

Martin Rees Martin John Rees, Baron Rees of Ludlow,, they would repel them so violently that larger atoms would never be generated. * ''Epsilon'' (''ε''), a measure of the nuclear efficiency of fusion from hydrogen to helium, is 0.007: when four nucleons fuse into helium, 0.007 (0.7%) of their mass is converted to energy. The value of ''ε'' is in part determined by the strength of the

strong nuclear force In nuclear physics and particle physics, the strong interaction, also called the strong force or strong nuclear force, is one of the four known fundamental interactions. It confines quarks into protons, neutrons, and other hadron particles, an ...

. If ''ε'' were 0.006, a proton could not bond to a neutron, and only hydrogen could exist, and complex chemistry would be impossible. According to Rees, if it were above 0.008, no hydrogen would exist, as all the hydrogen would have been fused shortly after the

. Other physicists disagree, calculating that substantial hydrogen remains as long as the strong force coupling constant increases by less than about 50%. * ''Omega'' (Ω), commonly known as the density parameter, is the relative importance of gravity and expansion energy in the universe. It is the ratio of the mass density of the universe to the "critical density" and is approximately 1. If gravity were too strong compared with dark energy and the initial cosmic expansion rate, the universe would have collapsed before life could have evolved. If gravity were too weak, no stars would have formed. * ''Lambda'' (Λ), commonly known as the

, describes the ratio of the density of

dark energy In physical cosmology and astronomy, dark energy is a proposed form of energy that affects the universe on the largest scales. Its primary effect is to drive the accelerating expansion of the universe. It also slows the rate of structure format ...

to the critical energy density of the universe, given certain reasonable assumptions such as that dark energy density is a constant. In terms of

Planck units In particle physics and physical cosmology, Planck units are a system of units of measurement defined exclusively in terms of four universal physical constants: ''Speed of light, c'', ''Gravitational constant, G'', ''Reduced Planck constant, ħ ...

, and as a natural dimensionless value, Λ is on the order of . This is so small that it has no significant effect on cosmic structures that are smaller than a billion light-years across. A slightly larger value of the cosmological constant would have caused

space Space is a three-dimensional continuum containing positions and directions. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions. Modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless ...

to expand rapidly enough that stars and other astronomical structures would not be able to form. * ''Q'', the ratio of the gravitational energy required to pull a large galaxy apart to the energy equivalent of its mass, is around 10⁻⁵. If it is too small, no stars can form. If it is too large, no stars can survive because the universe is too violent, according to Rees. * ''D'', the number of spatial dimensions in spacetime, is 3. Rees claims that life could not exist if there were 2 or 4 spatial dimensions. Rees argues this does not preclude the existence of ten-dimensional strings.

Max Tegmark Max Erik Tegmark (born 5 May 1967) is a Swedish-American physicist, machine learning researcher and author. He is best known for his book ''Life 3.0'' about what the world might look like as artificial intelligence continues to improve. Tegmark i ...

argued that if there is more than one time dimension, then physical systems' behavior could not be predicted reliably from knowledge of the relevant

partial differential equation In mathematics, a partial differential equation (PDE) is an equation which involves a multivariable function and one or more of its partial derivatives. The function is often thought of as an "unknown" that solves the equation, similar to ho ...

s. In such a universe, intelligent life capable of manipulating technology could not emerge. Moreover,

proton A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , Hydron (chemistry), H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' (elementary charge). Its mass is slightly less than the mass of a neutron and approximately times the mass of an e ...

s and

electron The electron (, or in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary charge, elementary electric charge. It is a fundamental particle that comprises the ordinary matter that makes up the universe, along with up qua ...

s would be unstable and could decay into particles having greater mass than themselves. This is not a problem if the particles have a sufficiently low temperature.

Carbon and oxygen

An older example is the

Hoyle state Carbon-12 (12C) is the most abundant of the two Stable isotope, stable isotopes of carbon (carbon-13 being the other), amounting to 98.93% of Periodic table, element carbon on Earth; its abundance is due to the triple-alpha process by which it i ...

, the third-lowest energy state of the

carbon-12 Carbon-12 (12C) is the most abundant of the two stable isotopes of carbon ( carbon-13 being the other), amounting to 98.93% of element carbon on Earth; its abundance is due to the triple-alpha process by which it is created in stars. Carbon-1 ...

nucleus, with an energy of 7.656 MeV above the ground level. According to one calculation, if the state's energy level were lower than 7.3 or greater than 7.9 MeV, insufficient carbon would exist to support life. To explain the universe's abundance of carbon, the Hoyle state must be further tuned to a value between 7.596 and 7.716 MeV. A similar calculation, focusing on the underlying fundamental constants that give rise to various energy levels, concludes that the

strong force In nuclear physics and particle physics, the strong interaction, also called the strong force or strong nuclear force, is one of the four known fundamental interactions. It confines quarks into protons, neutrons, and other hadron particles, an ...

must be tuned to a precision of at least 0.5%, and the electromagnetic force to a precision of at least 4%, to prevent either carbon production or oxygen production from dropping significantly.

Explanations

Some explanations of fine-tuning are naturalistic. First, the fine-tuning might be an illusion: more fundamental physics may explain the apparent fine-tuning in physical parameters in the current understanding by constraining the values those parameters are likely to take. As Lawrence Krauss put it, "certain quantities have seemed inexplicable and fine-tuned, and once we understand them, they don't seem to be so fine-tuned. We have to have some historical perspective".

Victor J. Stenger Victor John Stenger (; January 29, 1935 – August 25, 2014) was an American particle physicist, philosopher, author, and religious skeptic. Following a career as a research scientist in the field of particle physics, Stenger was associated ...

has shown that random selection of physical parameters can still produce universes capable of harboring life. Some argue it is possible that a final fundamental

theory of everything A theory of everything (TOE), final theory, ultimate theory, unified field theory, or master theory is a hypothetical singular, all-encompassing, coherent theoretical physics, theoretical framework of physics that fully explains and links togeth ...

will explain the underlying causes of the apparent fine-tuning in every parameter. Still, as modern cosmology developed, various hypotheses not presuming hidden order have been proposed. One is a

multiverse The multiverse is the hypothetical set of all universes. Together, these universes are presumed to comprise everything that exists: the entirety of space, time, matter, energy, information, and the physical laws and constants that describ ...

, where fundamental physical constants are postulated to have different values outside of the known universe. On this hypothesis, separate parts of reality would have wildly different characteristics. In such scenarios, the appearance of fine-tuning is explained as a consequence of the weak

and

selection bias Selection bias is the bias introduced by the selection of individuals, groups, or data for analysis in such a way that proper randomization is not achieved, thereby failing to ensure that the sample obtained is representative of the population inte ...

, specifically

. Only those universes with fundamental constants hospitable to life, such as on Earth, could contain life forms capable of observing the universe who can contemplate the question of fine-tuning. Zhi-Wei Wang and Samuel L. Braunstein argue that the apparent fine-tuning of fundamental constants could be due to the lack of understanding of these constants.

Multiverse

If the universe is just one of many and possibly infinite universes, each with different physical phenomena and constants, it is unsurprising that there is a universe hospitable to intelligent life. Some versions of the multiverse hypothesis therefore provide a simple explanation for any fine-tuning, while the analysis of Wang and Braunstein challenges the view that this universe is unique in its ability to support life. The multiverse idea has led to considerable research into the anthropic principle and has been of particular interest to

particle physicist Particle physics or high-energy physics is the study of fundamental particles and fundamental interaction, forces that constitute matter and radiation. The field also studies combinations of elementary particles up to the scale of protons and ...

s because theories of everything do apparently generate large numbers of universes in which the physical constants vary widely. Although there is no evidence for the existence of a multiverse, some versions of the theory make predictions of which some researchers studying

M-theory In physics, M-theory is a theory that unifies all Consistency, consistent versions of superstring theory. Edward Witten first conjectured the existence of such a theory at a string theory conference at the University of Southern California in 1 ...

and gravity leaks hope to see some evidence soon. Kaku, M., ''Parallel Worlds'' (New York: Doubleday, 2004), pp. 220–221. According to Laura Mersini-Houghton, the WMAP cold spot could provide testable empirical evidence of a parallel universe. Variants of this approach include

Lee Smolin Lee Smolin (; born June 6, 1955) is an American theoretical physicist, a faculty member at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, an adjunct professor of physics at the University of Waterloo, and a member of the graduate faculty of th ...

's notion of cosmological

natural selection Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the Heredity, heritable traits characteristic of a population over generation ...

, the

ekpyrotic universe The ekpyrotic universe () is a cosmological model of the early universe that explains the origin of the large-scale structure of the cosmos. The model has also been incorporated in the cyclic universe theory (or ekpyrotic cyclic universe theory) ...

, and the bubble universe theory. It has been suggested that invoking the multiverse to explain fine-tuning is a form of the inverse gambler's fallacy.

Top-down cosmology

and Thomas Hertog proposed that the universe's initial conditions consisted of a

superposition In mathematics, a linear combination or superposition is an expression constructed from a set of terms by multiplying each term by a constant and adding the results (e.g. a linear combination of ''x'' and ''y'' would be any expression of the form ...

of many possible initial conditions, only a small fraction of which contributed to the conditions seen today. According to their theory, the universe's "fine-tuned" physical constants are inevitable, because the universe "selects" only those histories that led to the present conditions. In this way, top-down cosmology provides an anthropic explanation for why this universe allows matter and life without invoking the multiverse.

Carbon chauvinism

Some forms of fine-tuning arguments about the formation of life assume that only carbon-based life forms are possible, an assumption sometimes called carbon chauvinism. Conceptually,

alternative biochemistry Several forms of biochemistry are agreed to be scientifically viable but are not proven to exist at this time. The kinds of living organisms currently known on Earth all use carbon compounds for basic structural and metabolic functions, water as ...

or other forms of life are possible.

Simulation hypothesis

The

simulation hypothesis The simulation hypothesis proposes that what one experiences as the real world is actually a simulated reality, such as a computer simulation in which humans are constructs. There has been much debate over this topic in the Philosophy, philosophi ...

holds that the universe is fine-tuned simply because the more technologically advanced simulation operator(s) programmed it that way.

No improbability

Graham Priest Graham Priest (born 1948) is a philosopher and logician who is distinguished professor of philosophy at the CUNY Graduate Center, as well as a regular visitor at the University of Melbourne, where he was Boyce Gibson Professor of Philosophy an ...

, Mark Colyvan, Jay L. Garfield, and others have argued against the presupposition that "the laws of physics or the boundary conditions of the universe could have been other than they are".

Theistic

Some scientists,

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

s, and

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

s, as well as certain religious groups, argue that providence or creation are responsible for fine-tuning. Christian philosopher

Alvin Plantinga Alvin Carl Plantinga (born November 15, 1932) is an American analytic philosophy, analytic philosopher who works primarily in the fields of philosophy of religion, epistemology (particularly on issues involving theory of justification, epistemic ...

argues that random chance, applied to a single and sole universe, only raises the question as to why this universe could be so "lucky" as to have precise conditions that support life at least at some place (the Earth) and time (within millions of years of the present).

William Lane Craig William Lane Craig (; born August 23, 1949) is an American Analytic philosophy, analytic philosopher, Christian apologetics, Christian apologist, author, and theologian. He is a professor of philosophy at Houston Christian University and at the T ...

, a philosopher and

Christian apologist Christian apologetics (, "verbal defense, speech in defense") is a branch of Christian theology that defends Christianity. Christian apologetics have taken many forms over the centuries, starting with Paul the Apostle in the early church and Pa ...

, cites this fine-tuning of the universe as

evidence Evidence for a proposition is what supports the proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the proposition is truth, true. The exact definition and role of evidence vary across different fields. In epistemology, evidence is what J ...

for the existence of

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

or some form of

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. It can be described as t ...

capable of manipulating (or designing) the basic

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

that governs the universe.William Lane Craig
"The Teleological Argument and the Anthropic Principle"
leaderu.com Philosopher and theologian

Richard Swinburne Richard Granville Swinburne (; born 26 December 1934) is an English philosopher. He is an Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oxford. Over the last 50 years, Swinburne has been a proponent of philosophical arguments for the e ...

reaches the design conclusion using

Bayesian probability Bayesian probability ( or ) is an interpretation of the concept of probability, in which, instead of frequency or propensity of some phenomenon, probability is interpreted as reasonable expectation representing a state of knowledge or as quant ...

. Scientist and theologian

Alister McGrath Alister Edgar McGrath (; born 1953) is an Irish theologian, Anglican priest, intellectual historian, scientist, Christian apologist, and public intellectual. He currently holds the Andreas Idreos Professorship in Science and Religion in the F ...

observed that the fine-tuning of carbon is even responsible for nature's ability to tune itself to any degree.

The entire biological evolutionary process depends upon the unusual chemistry of carbon, which allows it to bond to itself, as well as other elements, creating highly complex molecules that are stable over prevailing terrestrial temperatures, and are capable of conveying genetic information (especially DNA). ..Whereas it might be argued that nature creates its own fine-tuning, this can only be done if the primordial constituents of the universe are such that an evolutionary process can be initiated. The unique chemistry of carbon is the ultimate foundation of the capacity of nature to tune itself.

Theoretical physicist and Anglican priest

John Polkinghorne John Charlton Polkinghorne (16 October 1930 – 9 March 2021) was an English theoretical physicist, theologian, and Anglican priest. A prominent and leading voice explaining the relationship between science and religion, he was professor of ma ...

stated: "Anthropic fine tuning is too remarkable to be dismissed as just a happy accident". Theologian and philosopher

Andrew Loke Andrew Ter Ern Loke is a Singaporean Christian theologian and philosopher. He is currently Associate Professor in the Department of Religion and Philosophy at Hong Kong Baptist University. He has made contributions to the fields of Systematic Theo ...

argues that there are only five possible categories of hypotheses concerning fine-tuning and order: (i) chance, (ii) regularity, (iii) combinations of regularity and chance, (iv) uncaused, and (v) design, and that only design gives an exclusively logical explanation of order in the universe. He argues that the

Kalam Cosmological Argument The Kalam cosmological argument is a modern formulation of the cosmological argument for the existence of God. It is named after the ''Kalam'' (medieval Islamic scholasticism) from which many of its key ideas originated. Philosopher and theolo ...

strengthens the teleological argument by answering the question " Who designed the Designer?". Creationist Hugh Ross advances a number of fine-tuning hypotheses. One is the existence of what Ross calls "vital poisons", which are elemental nutrients that are harmful in large quantities but essential for animal life in smaller quantities. Philosopher and theologian Robin Collins argues that theism entails the expectation that God would create a reality structured to allow for scientific discovery to easily happen. According to Collins, various physical constants such as the

fine-structure constant In physics, the fine-structure constant, also known as the Sommerfeld constant, commonly denoted by (the Alpha, Greek letter ''alpha''), is a Dimensionless physical constant, fundamental physical constant that quantifies the strength of the el ...

allowing for efficient energy usage, the

baryon In particle physics, a baryon is a type of composite particle, composite subatomic particle that contains an odd number of valence quarks, conventionally three. proton, Protons and neutron, neutrons are examples of baryons; because baryons are ...

-to-

photon A photon () is an elementary particle that is a quantum of the electromagnetic field, including electromagnetic radiation such as light and radio waves, and the force carrier for the electromagnetic force. Photons are massless particles that can ...

ratio allowing for the

cosmic microwave background The cosmic microwave background (CMB, CMBR), or relic radiation, is microwave radiation that fills all space in the observable universe. With a standard optical telescope, the background space between stars and galaxies is almost completely dar ...

to be discovered, and the mass of the

Higgs boson The Higgs boson, sometimes called the Higgs particle, is an elementary particle in the Standard Model of particle physics produced by the excited state, quantum excitation of the Higgs field, one of the field (physics), fields in particl ...

allowing it to be detected are examples of the laws of physics being fine-tuned for scientific discovery. Evolutionary biologist

Richard Dawkins Richard Dawkins (born 26 March 1941) is a British evolutionary biology, evolutionary biologist, zoologist, science communicator and author. He is an Oxford fellow, emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford, and was Simonyi Professor for the Publ ...

dismisses the theistic argument as "deeply unsatisfying" since it leaves the existence of God unexplained, with a God capable of calculating the fine-tuning at least as improbable as the fine-tuning itself. Against this claim, it has been argued that theism is a simple hypothesis, allowing theists to deny that God is at least as improbable as the fine-tuning.

Douglas Adams Douglas Noel Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author, humorist, and screenwriter, best known as the creator of ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. Originally a 1978 BBC radio comedy, ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the ...

satirized the theistic argument in his 2002 book '' The Salmon of Doubt'':

Imagine a puddle waking up one morning and thinking, "This is an interesting world I find myself in, an interesting hole I find myself in, fits me rather neatly, doesn't it? In fact, it fits me staggeringly well, must have been made to have me in it!"