For the John Templeton Foundation, I wrote about the implications of our universe’s seemingly precise conditions for life.
The term is commonly applied to the idea that our universe’s fundamental physical constants are uniquely and inexplicably suited to the evolution of intelligent life. Scientists, philosophers and religious thinkers have used the concept of “fine tuning” to describe a variety of physical or biological systems ranging from bacterial anatomy to the Big Bang, often as a launching point for broader scientific, philosophical or theological questions.
Just as a piano or an airplane engine is considered finely tuned when its parts are precisely aligned to allow it to function, our universe has attributes that some regard as precisely balanced. The masses of subatomic particles, the strengths of atomic forces, and the nature of space and time have values that allow for the existence of matter, stars, galaxies and planets hospitable to the formation of life. Many scientists have noted that the values of these key constants appear to be arbitrary and possibly random, making the probability of a universe like ours vanishingly small. Some have compared it to being shot at by 50 members of a well-trained firing squad and emerging unscathed.