I am psychologically incapable of believing that the universe is meaningless. I
believe the universe has a purpose, and our greatest intellectual challenge as
human beings is to glimpse what this purpose might be.
belief is not the result of a blinding flash of a road-to-Damascus revelation.
Nor is it the imprint of a nurturing home environment. Kindergartners in their
simplicity ask many profound questions, but the purpose of the universe is
rarely among them. Maturing teenagers in their angst may ask, "What's the
meaning of it all?" The question is existential, but the answer is subtle.
Understanding emerges not in thunder, earthquake and fire, but in the still
small voice of the universe itself.
possibly, the purpose of the universe is to provide a congenial home for
self-conscious creatures who can ask profound questions and who can probe the
nature of the universe itself.
gradually did I come to appreciate how magnificently tuned the universe is for
the emergence of intelligent life. Carbon atoms, with their self-bonding
properties, provide the immense variety for the complex cellular machinery–no
other atom offers a comparable range of possibilities.
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carbon did not emerge from the big bang of creation. It was slowly produced,
over billions of years, in the cores of evolving stars. Had some of the basic
constants of nature been only slightly different, there would be no major
abundance of carbon. And it is extremely difficult to imagine intelligent life
without something like carbon.
swallow does not a summer make. But in the fine-tuning of the universe, the
abundance of carbon is only one of many such remarkable aspects. There are
enough such "coincidences" to give thoughtful observers some pause. Scientists
who are loath to accept a fine-tuned universe feel obliged to take notice. Of
course, if the universe were any other way, we wouldn't be here to observe it,
but that is hardly a satisfying answer.
however, that there are myriad universes, each with different properties. In
that case we would naturally be found in the universe that, like the little
bear's porridge, is just right. Those other barren universes, many with no
stars or planets, would exist in their own forever unobservable space. Somehow
this is an unpersuasive counter-argument. Even one congenial universe out of
many would be miracle enough.
deep mystery of God's vast creative experiment there may be many facets that
we, in human terms, would relate to as purposes of the universe. I believe
that, incredibly, this includes the creator's self-revelation though human
intelligence and personalities. With God's experiment comes the freedom of
choice, and I choose to believe in a purposeful universe.
thoughtful atheistic friends who deny that the universe has any ultimate
meaning are also men and women of faith. Perhaps intimidated by intimations of
design, they seek to understand the universe in other ways. Ironically, they
themselves may well be part of the purpose of the universe.
Owen Gingerich is Professor Emeritus of Astronomy and of the History of Science at Harvard University and a senior astronomer emeritus at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.