~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just one thing is clear
to me
There's always more than what appears to be
When the light's just right
I swear I see, yeah man it's poetry
There's always more than what appears to be
When the light's just right
I swear I see, yeah man it's poetry
But somebody made every
thing
From the soul, inside out to Saturn's rings
How my baby smiles and how Ray Charles sings
Of course we were created
From the soul, inside out to Saturn's rings
How my baby smiles and how Ray Charles sings
Of course we were created
Excerpt from ‘Poetry’ –
Walt Wilkins
The excerpt above is to give proper credit to the title
of this article. Of course Walt is an artist so who knows, if he read my blog, he
may ask me to take it down! It’s a beautiful song and an intriguing lyric. To
me, all my life I’ve known that there is a God. I struggled in my youth with
religion, but never with the belief in God; more than just a ‘momentary’
agnostic investigation into ‘evolution’ and the whole Darwin-worship. Getting
my degree in Architecture only strengthened my resolve on the issue. As a
designer I recognize design. Who can watch a butterfly emerge from a cacoon and not believe in creation? Life, chemistry, physics, the miracle of liquid
water and the fascination of light’s numerous properties are all indications of
design to those who care to see them.
I understand a scientist’s desire to base conclusions
only on documentable evidence, as it should be; however, there are statistical
reasons to believe that The Standard Model for example can only occur through
design and not happenstance. A wonderful irony of many scientific disciplines,
but particularly Physics, today is that many of the great advances have come
from a desire to find a way to explain life without
a creator. As can be expected though, each new discovery tends to eventually
create considerably more questions than answers. The so-called Big Bang Theory
itself only begs the question, “Where did all of the matter existing in the
universe that was compressed into that minute spec come from the moment before said ‘bang’?” Do not
misunderstand, I love and support the scientific search for proof of life from
nothing. Their efforts to date have done more to prove the existence of God
than the opposite.
The question on the minds of almost every human on the
planet is this: Is Life unique to planet Earth in the entire vastness of the universe
(or multi-verse if String Theory is your thang)? First all for the purpose of
this discussion we must limit the term ‘Life’ to carbon based life such as we
know, and particularly sentient life such as Man.
We will not answer the
question here, but let us narrow down the possibilities.
The following is required for life on Earth to exist:
·
A star closely similar to our Sun. Not just
any star will support life. It must be a late born star in a spiral galaxy. It’s
complicated but for the essential elemental chemistry to form this is required.
Only a small percentage of stars in the known universe fit this model.
·
This star must be in a particular place
within the spiral galaxy. Too close to center or edge; no life.
·
The star must have been created within the proximity
of a white dwarf/’normal’ star binary that produces Flourine. The gravitational
forces must be just so, to blast the Flourine into space rather than just
burning it up. Too complicated to put down here, but very rare.
·
The planet orbiting the star must be within a
small distance window from the star. Too close or too far and no life.
·
The solar system requires a Jupiter like
giant 5 times more distant from the star than the planet. Too close and it’s
gravity upsets the balance for the planet; too far and it doesn’t shield the
planet from the ‘trash’ around the star (comets, asteroids etc.)
·
The perfect moon. The moon must be large
enough to maintain it’s orbital stability while fixing the planets rotational
axis at 23 ½ degrees. For instance Mars’ rotational axis varies from 0-60
degrees and flips around.
·
The moon also is perfect for our predictable
tides; also necessary for Life.
·
The planet must have a molten iron core
producing the protective magnetic protection from the stars radiation.
·
Plate tectonics. Also complicated but
necessary and finely tuned. Too many earthquakes no life. Too few earthquakes
no life. Same with volcanoes; the number and timing of explosions is finely
tuned for Life to be possible.
·
Earth’s rotation must be just so; too fast
too many tornadoes and hurricanes, too slow and it gets too cold at night and
hot during the day. 20 hour days; no Life. 28 hour days; no Life. 24 hours for
now and perfect for Life. It is slowing down by the way so in a billion years
or so we can all kiss it goodbye.
·
At a more fundamental level; the molecular
weight of Methane is 16, Ammonia’s is 17 and Water is 18; therefore we keep
lots of water but no Methane or Ammonia. If it weren’t so; no Life. The properties of liquid water are way too deep to go into here but I urge you to explore. It is fascinating...and vital to Life!
·
Mass of the Universe acts as a catalyst for
nuclear fusion. Too much mass, too much density, then all matter is converted
from Hydrogen into elements heavier than iron; no Life. Too little mass and
inefficient fusion would produce only Hydrogen and maybe Helium; no Oxygen or
Carbon therefore, no Life.
·
The universe must be electrically neutral or
electromagnetism will dominate and stars or planets will never form. This
equality must be within one part to
10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. That’s 10 to the 37th
power.
·
The strength of Gravity must be within 10 to
the 40th power weaker than the force of electromagnetism. While necessarily
being the weakest force; Gravity must be dominant or planets and stars would
not form.
·
The neutron must be within 1/10th
of 1% more massive than we know or so many neutrons would be made that the
universe would collapse into neutron stars and black holes.
This is not a comprehensive list. The number of things
that must be just so for Life to exist is staggering. It explains why this
indeed may be the only place in the universe where Life exists. Why such a vast
universe then? As explained above the mass of the universe must be just so for
all of the laws of physics to produce the elements required for life; then
there must be a star and a planet and a solar system within all of this mass
that is just so as to produce the test tube for Life to exist.
To wrap it up; the circumstances necessary for the
creation of fundamental elements essential to Life are themselves
astronomically improbable. AFTER that, the circumstances that allow those
elements to combine into sustainable Life are again astronomical. AFTER that,
that Life would then become sentient, self-aware, capable of creativity is so
far beyond human understanding as to be impossible…and yet here you are,
reading this article, considering the value and objectivity of every word,
making a rational decision that you alone will hold in your own special
understanding. The statistical improbability of Life makes the search for same
somewhat futile. As the late Senator Proxmire of Wisconsin so presciently
noted, “It’s hard enough to find intelligent life right here in Washington!”
What’s the point you may ask? Perhaps the vastness of the
universe and the innate desire of Man to explore said universe and necessarily
ask, “Is there other life out there?” will be the actual driving force to Man’s
eventual understanding that indeed ‘Of Course We Are Created!’ On that day, Man
will begin to live as God intended; loving, respectful and reverent to our
wholy unique existence in all of eternal space. Only then may we begin to view
our treatment of our fellow Man in the proper perspective.
May God bless you and continue to bless the United States
of America and the World and the Universe.
by: Keith D. Rodebush
