The Anthropic Principle Is What Scientists Use When They’ve Given Up On Science
Yes, life exists in our Universe. No, that statement doesn’t equal science.
Imagine you’ve encountered a natural phenomenon you want to understand better, but don’t have the tools to do so. Perhaps you’re curious why the fundamental constants have the values that they do, or how old the Earth is, or whether there are undiscovered states of matter out there. Under normal circumstances, you’d conduct your inquiry scientifically: by making measurements and observations that ask the Universe questions about itself. You’d gather data, get results, and draw conclusions based on what you found.
But sometimes, you don’t know how to conduct the experiments or gather the observations you’d need. Sometimes, you can only resort to the most basic of assumptions: that however the Universe may behave, it behaved in a way that allowed it to give rise to intelligent observers like us. This line of thinking is known as the Anthropic Principle. While it can serve as a useful starting point, it’s no substitute for actual science.
