To bolster a positive attitude toward the universe, we consider how physics supports life.
Life as we know it requires a universe in which basic physical constants must be very precisely what they are; slight deviations would make life impossible. It is as though Creative Intelligence “fine-tuned” four basic forces. Gravitation is just strong enough to hold galaxies together and weak enough to allow the universe to expand. The strong nuclear force is strong enough to bind together the protons and neutrons in an atom, but its range is limited; it does not keep electrons so close to the nucleus that there would be no atoms with electrons far enough from the nucleus to combine with other atoms. The weak nuclear force slows down the rate at which stars burn their hydrogen, so that stars last long enough for life to evolve. The electromagnetic force holds electrons in their precise orbits, so that atoms can bond with other atoms to form molecules.
Fine tuning seems apparent in the way that the properties of water fit the requirements of life. Water covers three-quarters of the earth and makes up 90% of our body mass. It stores heat and helps maintain the temperature equilibrium required for planetary life, both in the individual organism and in the environment. When an animal perspires and the water evaporates, the heat carried off with the vapor brings efficient cooling to the skin. Unlike other liquids, water expands when it freezes, and so, because ice is less dense than its liquid form, it floats. In the winter, ice on lakes and rivers insulates the deeper water from heat loss and thus protects marine life, without which no organism could exist. Water vapor, finally, is one of the atmospheric devices for filtering out harmful radiation from the spectrum of radiation that the sun pours forth, and for transmitting just the wavelengths that life requires.
Even if we understand that science neither proves nor disproves the existence of God, we may see natural phenomena that seem designed. Any examples?
IMG 5248 by Sgarton http://mrg.bz/MXCPsw