The
studies in question were actually “no real news” type of affairs.
They considered what is called the cosmological constant or dark
energy, which is basically the same as the vacuum energy density or the energy density of empty
space. The studies found that in some other universe such a thing
might be up to 300 times greater without ruling out life in such a
universe. This is “no real news” in the sense that this was
already known.
What
we have in our universe is a vacuum energy density or cosmological
constant that seems not quite zero but very close to zero. This means
that the vacuum of space is very close to being devoid of energy. So
it's hardly a surprise that you could multiply by a few hundred times
this “very close to nothing” energy density of the vacuum,
without affecting the universe's habitability.
But
our science news media has distorted such studies, drawing
unwarranted conclusions from them. For example, the Live Science
story claimed this: “According to a new pair of studies in the
journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, there’s
a decent chance that life-fostering planets could exist in a parallel
universe.” I will now explain three fallacies involved in such
claims, which certainly do not follow from the studies in question.
Fallacy
1: The Fallacy of Mistaking “Could Be Much Different Without
Ruining Things” with “Being Likely to Be Life-Compatible”
Let
us consider some particular parameter in a universe: for example, the
strength of the gravitational constant. Imagine you show that such a
parameter could vary by 100 times without ruining the chances of life
in our universe. Would such a parameter be likely to be compatible
with life's existence in a random universe? Not at all. Whether a
particular parameter could be much different without ruining a
universe's habitability (call this Question A) is a much different
question than whether such a parameter would be likely to have a
value not ruining the chances of life in a random universe (call this
Question B).
How
can we calculate this Question B? You would have to numerically
compare two ranges of values: (1) a range of values (call it Range A)
that the parameter could have without preventing life in our
universe; (2) a much larger set of values (call it Range B) that the
parameter might possibly have had.
Let's
try this in the case of the gravitational constant. We know that the
universe has four fundamental forces (the gravitational force, the
weak nuclear force, the electromagnetic force, and the strong nuclear
force). We also know that the ratio between the strongest of the
forces (the strong nuclear force) and the weakest of these forces
(the gravitational force) is about 10 to the fortieth power or 1040.
So in estimating the set of values that any of these four forces
might have had in a possible universe, a reasonable approach would be
to assume that any of them might have varied by a factor of 1040.
So for the gravitational constant it would seem that Range B
should be something like the range of values between a value 1040 times smaller than the current value of the gravitational constant and a value 1040 times larger than the current value of the gravitational constant. But in
this case Range A would only be a microscopic fraction of this Range
B, because there are reasons why life could not exist in our universe if the
gravitational constant was much more than about 100 times larger or smaller.
The
ratio between this Range A and Range B is actually about 1 in 10 to
the thirty-seventh power. So in the case of the gravitational constant
two things are true: (1) the current value of the constant could be
no more than about a hundred times larger or smaller without ruining the
universe's chance of life; (2) the chance of such luck in a random
universe seems to be less than 1 in
10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.
I
can give an analogy. Imagine there's an office door that requires
people entering to type their 10-digit social security number.
Imagine there are 100 employees in the office. In this case there are
100 random numbers you can type that would get you inside the office.
But there's still only a tiny chance of success with a random
number. So you should not at all make the mistake of thinking,
“There's a good chance of getting in; there are a hundred numbers
that will get you in.” The chance of getting in with a random
number is actually less than 1 in 100 million. And similarly, the
chance of a random universe having a life-compatible gravitational
constant is much less than 1 in a billion, even though there are
multiple random values for such a constant that might be compatible
with life.
In
the case of the cosmological constant, we would have to consider both
the Range A mentioned by these scientific papers (plus or minus 300
times) and also a vastly larger Range B representing possible values for
the cosmological constant. The cosmological constant is determined
by various quantum contributions to the vacuum energy density, and
physicists have long told us that these contributions should be
enormous. Calculations based on quantum mechanics indicate that the
cosmological constant should actually be 1060 or 10120
times larger than it is. This is the problem (discussed here) called the “vacuum
catastrophe” problem, the problem that reality is not matching theoretical predictions.
So
the Range B for the cosmological constant should be any value between
0 and a value 1060 times stronger than its value in our
universe. In a random universe the energy density of a vacuum could be anywhere between nothing and the energy density of a neutron star.
In this case the Range A (a value between the cosmological constant's
value in our universe and a value 300 times greater) is only a tiny
fraction of the Range B – less than a millionth of a billionth.
So
far from showing that “there’s a decent
chance that life-fostering planets could exist in a parallel
universe,” the very item being considered (the cosmological
constant or vacuum energy density) is a reason for thinking that there would be less than one
chance in a million billion of a random universe having properties
compatible with life.
Fallacy
2: Assuming That a Universe's Habitability Depends On Only One Factor
The
habitability of a universe depends on a very large number of factors,
including all of these:
- the strength of the electromagnetic force
- the strength of the strong nuclear force binding atomic nuclei together
- the strength of the gravitational force
- the value of Planck's constant, a constant that appears very often in nuclear equations
- the value of the speed of light
- the extent of the vacuum energy density or cosmological constant
- the expansion speed of an expanding universe
- the ratio between the absolute value of the electric charge on the proton and the absolute value of the electric charge on the electron (very precisely 1.000000000000000 in our universe, as discussed here)
- the ratio between the mass of the proton and the mass of the electron
- the size of primordial density fluctuations
- suitable law of nature, such as those allowing electromagnetism
- the amount of entropy in the universe
All
of these things have to be right for a universe to be habitable, for
reasons discussed here and here. Below is a table listing some of the requirements for a universe to have civilizations (see here for a discussion of each item in the table). Click on the table to see it at better resolution.
It
is therefore a great fallacy for anyone to be hearing about some
study regarding one particular cosmic parameter or fundamental
constant, and then saying, “Oh, so it's not so hard for a universe
to be habitable.” That's rather like some young lady saying, “Okay,
I've got a good hairstyle, now I've got a good chance of becoming a
movie star.” Just as becoming a movie star has many different
requirements (such as looks, a good agent, lucky breaks, connections,
and acting talent), having a universe compatible with life has many
different requirements.
Fallacy
3: Assuming That a Habitable Universe Equals a Good Chance of a
Planet with Intelligent Life
It
is important not to confuse necessary conditions and sufficient
conditions. A necessary condition is some condition that must be met
in order for some thing to occur. A sufficient condition is something
that will guarantee that such a thing will occur. For example,
buying a lottery ticket is a necessary condition for winning a
lottery jackpot, but not at all a sufficient condition for such a
thing. Having your head cut off is not a necessary condition for
death, but it is a sufficient condition for death, guaranteeing that
someone will die.
In
regard to the appearance of intelligent life on a planet, a habitable
universe is a necessary condition for such an appearance, but not at
all a sufficient condition for such a thing. Beyond the many
conditions for a habitable universe, there are many additional
conditions that must be met for life to get started in any universe:
(1) the appearance of a genetic code; (2) the appearance at one spot
of more than 100,000 base pairs achieving a functional end allowing a
cell to reproduce; (3) the appearance of a molecule like DNA; (4) the
appearance of a cell membrane. Then there are many additional
improbable conditions that must be met for life to arise to the state
of multicellular complexity and intelligence. These additional
conditions are so steep that they might never occur in any of a
million random universes, even if they all happened to be habitable.
There
are many highly improbable conditions that must be met for any random
universe to be either life-compatible or compatible with the
existence of stars. For reasons discussed in this post, with
overwhelming likelihood a random universe would be both lifeless and
light-less. The bottom line on the cosmological constant or vacuum energy density is that it is one of many needles that must be threaded for you to have a universe compatible with life, one of many distant target bulls-eyes that must be hit to end up with a universe compatible with the existence of intelligent life.
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