421 Catalyst: Custom Universe

OK, here’s a curly one … do you lie awake at night wondering how the universe came into being? Well, once you’re through this blog you may well be doing just that. Paul Davies, alongside Brian Cox my favourite physicist (ok, after Albert Einstein and - of course - Stephen Hawking), says in a Special on ABC’s Catalyst, the universe when it came into existence was fine-tuned for us.

Right. All Bible adherents will now say, “I knew that, of course, God did that." While that - to me - would be a truly weird idea, Davies’ idea is even weirder: It wasn’t God (doh!) it was intelligent beings from the future! Some time in the future some futuristic beings of indescribable constitution, went back in time, right to the beginning of our universe (some 13 billion years ago) and created the physical laws and conditions that allowed life to arise and eventually for the development of (more or less) intelligent human beings. You’ve gotta watch the show to get a grip on this story.

Go watch the whole Catalyst program, but if you want to get to the juicy bit right away (and then watch the whole show afterwards) go to 25:00 minutes, where you start with Einstein, wondering how it is that we can even comprehend the universe. Heady stuff … I love it. Like so many of Paul Davies’ ideas (I have about 7 of his books) this makes sooo much sense.