Extremely Low Entropy of the Early Universe as Evidence against Theism?
One of the topics from last Friday’s debate between William Lane Craig and Sean Carroll was the extremely low entropy of the early universe. As I type this blog post, the video of the debate isn’t available, so I’m going from memory. But I thought I heard Carroll argue that the extremely low entropy of … Extremely Low Entropy of the Early Universe as Evidence against Theism?
Did the Cosmological Principle Get Knocked Down?
This looks relevant to arguments from scale. LINK
J. Brian Pitts: Why the Big Bang Singularity Does Not Help the Kalam Cosmological Argument for Theism
Abstract: The cosmic singularity provides negligible evidence for creation in the finite past, and hence theism. A physical theory might have no metric or multiple metrics, so a ‘beginning’ must involve a first moment, not just finite age. Whether one dismisses singularities or takes them seriously, physics licenses no first moment. The analogy between the … J. Brian Pitts: Why the Big Bang Singularity Does Not Help the Kalam Cosmological Argument for Theism
Prosblogion: Physicist Sean Carroll on God and Modern Physics
Kenny Pearce at Prosblogion comments on Sean Carroll’s essay, “Does the Universe Need God?“, which we linked to a couple of days ago. The article is a model of constructive dialog between philosophy and physics. Carroll shows engagement with the major philosophical arguments under discussion, and does not come off as condescending or dismissive. He … Prosblogion: Physicist Sean Carroll on God and Modern Physics
Sean Carroll: Does the Universe Need God?
That is the title of Carroll’s essay in The Blackwell Companion to Science and Christianity. Carroll argues that cosmology doesn’t require or support theological hypotheses. An online copy is available at the blog, What There Is and Why There Is Anything. LINK
From Victor Stenger: Higgs and Significance
(Reblogged on behalf of Victor Stenger. This article was originally published on The Huffington Post here.) As the world knows, on July 4 it was announced that the Higgs boson, or a reasonable facsimile, has been seen by two independent experiments at CERN. The statistical significance reported was expressed as “5-sigma.” Let’s look at what … From Victor Stenger: Higgs and Significance
“God Particle” Discovery Means Woes for Atheists?
Check this out: https://i.imgur.com/Y69cF.png According to some Tweeters, the recent (probable) discovery of the Higgs Boson (unfortunately tagged “The God Particle” by physicist Leon Lederman) has some people once again writing obituaries for atheism. Of course, it seems unlikely that these particular individuals have advanced degrees in physics, philosophy, or theology, so their pronouncements should … “God Particle” Discovery Means Woes for Atheists?
LINKS: Scientific American Summarizes the Cases For and Against the Multiverse
“The Case for Parallel Universes: Why the multiverse, crazy as it sounds, is a solid scientific idea” by Alexander Vilenkin and Max Tegmark (HT: Explicit Atheist) “Does the Multiverse Really Exist?” by George Ellis
Confessions of a Multiverse Skeptic
Okay, the title of my post is a little misleading. A more accurate, but less catchy, title for my post would be, “Confessions of a Skeptic of the Multiverse Objection to the Fine-Tuning Argument.” Whew! Just trying saying that five times fast! On a serious note, I’ve mentioned before that I am not convinced by … Confessions of a Multiverse Skeptic
LINK: Why Is There Anything At All? A Response To Stenger
“As someone with sympathies for the Argument from Contingency, and as a non-believer, I am constantly frustrated when I see atheists who should frankly know better completely miss the point of the argument and attack straw-men or simply re-define the word “nothing” so the problem goes away. Philosophers have been quite good at pointing out … LINK: Why Is There Anything At All? A Response To Stenger