Anthropic principle: Encyclopedia - Anthropic principle

Anthropic principle

In cosmology, the anthropic principle in its most basic form states the truism that any valid theory of the universe must be consistent with our existence as carbon-based human beings at this particular time and place in the universe. In other words, "If something must be true for us, as humans, to exist; then it is true simply because we exist." Attempts to apply this principle to develop scientific explanations in cosmology have led to some confusion and much controversy.

Anthropic principle - Origin

The term "anthropic principle" was first proposed in 1973 by theoretical physicist Brandon Carter during the symposium "Confrontation of Cosmological Theories with Observational Data" in Kraków celebrating Copernicus’ 500th birthday, as if to proclaim that humanity does hold a special place in the universe after all. ⁽¹⁾ In his contribution "Large Number Coincidences and the Anthropic Principle in Cosmology" Carter remarks: "Although our situation is not necessarily central, it is inevitably privileged to some extent" (IAUS 63 (1974) 291).

Anthropic principle - Proponents and versions

Proponents of the anthropic principle suggest that we live in a fine-tuned universe, i.e. a universe that appears to be "fine-tuned" to allow the existence of life as we know it. If any of the basic physical constants were significantly different, then life as we know it would not be possible. Papers have been written arguing that the anthropic principle would explain the physical constants such as the fine structure constant, the number of dimensions in the universe, and the cosmological constant.

The three primary versions of the principle, as stated by John D. Barrow and Frank J. Tipler (1986), are:

• Weak anthropic principle (WAP): "The observed values of all physical and cosmological quantities are not equally probable but they take on values restricted by the requirement that there exist sites where carbon-based life can evolve and by the requirements that the Universe be old enough for it to have already done so."
• Strong anthropic principle (SAP): "The Universe must have those properties which allow life to develop within it at some stage in its history."
• Final anthropic principle (FAP): "Intelligent information-processing must come into existence in the Universe, and, once it comes into existence, it will never die out."

The weak version has been criticized as an argument by lack of imagination for assuming no other forms of life are possible (see also alternative biochemistry). Furthermore, the range of constants allowing evolution of carbon-based life may be much less restricted than proposed (Stenger, "Timeless Reality"). The strong version is also criticized as being neither testable nor falsifiable, and unnecessary. The final version is discussed in more detail under final anthropic principle; Barrow and Tipler state that, although it is a physical statement, it is nevertheless "closely connected with moral values".

Proponents of intelligent design assert support from the anthropic principle. On the other hand, the existence of alternate universes is suggested for other reasons and the anthropic principle provides additional support for their existence. Assuming some possible universe would be capable of supporting intelligent life, some actual universes must do so, and ours clearly is one of those. However, alternatives of the intelligent design conjecture are not limited to proposing the existence of alternate universes. Also, it has been argued that the anthropic principle as conventionally stated actually undermines the intelligent design conjecture (discussed in more detail under fine tuning). In other words, proponents of evolution also assert support from the anthropic principle.

Anthropic principle - The Anthropic Cosmological Principle

In 1986, the controversial book The Anthropic Cosmological Principle by John D. Barrow and Frank J. Tipler (Oxford University Press) was published. In this book Barrow, a cosmological scientist, and Tipler, a mathematical physicist, pioneered the anthropic principle in order to deal with the seemingly incredible coincidences that allow for our presence in a universe that appears to be perfectly set up for our existence. Everything from the particular energy state of the electron to the exact level of the weak nuclear force seems to be tailored for us to exist. The existence of carbon-based life in this universe is contingent upon several independent variables; and were any of these variables to take a slightly different value, carbon-based life could not exist. The anthropic principle implies that our ability to ponder cosmology at all is contingent on all the correct variables being in place. According to critics, this is simply a tautology, a very elaborate way of saying 'if things were different, they would be different', and that this weak anthropic principle is a truism that says nothing and explains nothing because in order for us to be here to ponder the universe, it had to be such that we can exist. According to Peter Schaefer, that "critics call it a truism" is not a failure of the weak anthropic principle, since how can you refute a statement by saying that it is true?

Brandon Carter presented his ideas about the anthropic principle in a 1974 publication of the International Astronomical Union. Later, in 1983, he claimed that, in its original form, the principle was meant only to caution astrophysicists and cosmologists of possible errors in the interpretation of astronomical and cosmological data unless the biological constraints of the observer were taken into account. In 1983 he also included the warning that the inverse was true for evolutionary biologists; Carter claimed that in interpreting the evolutionary record, one must take into account the astrophysical restraints of the process. Working with this in mind, Carter concluded that the evolutionary chain probably could include only one or two highly improbable links given the available time interval. A. Feoli and S. Rampone ("Is the Strong Anthropic Principle Too Weak," 1999) argued that the estimated size of our universe and number of planets allows a higher bound, indicating no evidence for intelligent design in evolution.

There was renewed scientific interest in the anthropic principle in the late-1990s motivated by observational cosmology and theoretical work in quantum gravity. The theoretical work involved attempting to unify gravity with the other forces. While there were a number of promising developments, they all seemed to suffer from the problem that the fundamental physical constants seemed to be unconstrained. The observational motivation came from cosmological observations which gave firm values for quantities such as the matter density of the universe. Contrary to expectations, the value was not one, but 0.3, which is a non-obvious value.

Some alternatives to the anthropic principle do exist, the most optimistic being that a Theory of everything will ultimately be discovered, uniting all forces in the universe and deriving the properties of all the particles in the universe from scratch. Some candidates include M-Theory and various theories of quantum gravity, although much of this is speculative. Another possibility is Lee Smolin's model of Cosmological natural selection, also known as Fecund universes, which proposes that universes give "offspring" which are more plentiful if they happen to possess features common to our universe.

Recent publications (2004) by Stephen Hawking suggest that our universe is much less 'special' than the proponents of the anthropic principle claim it is. According to Hawking, there is a 98% chance that a universe of a type as ours will come from a Big Bang. Further, using the basic wavefunction of the universe as basis, Hawking's equations indicate that such a universe can come into existence without relation to anything prior to it, meaning that it could come out of nothing. As of 2004, however, these publications and the theories in them are still subject to scientific debate, and in the past, Hawking himself has asked, "What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to describe?...Why does the universe go to all the bother of existing?" (Hawking, 1988).

Anthropic principle - Anthropic principle in string theory

String theory predicts a large number of possible universes, called the backgrounds or vacua. The set of these of vacua is often called the anthropic landscape or string landscape. Some physicists, such as Leonard Susskind, argue that the existence of a large number of vacua puts the anthropic reasoning on firm ground. Others, most notably David Gross but also Lubos Motl and Peter Woit, argue that this is not predictive. Steven Weinberg described the anthropic principle as a "turning point" in the history of science in his 2005 paper on the string landscape, "Living in the multiverse".

Anthropic principle - Anthropic bias and anthropic reasoning

In 2002, Nick Bostrom asked "Is it possible to sum up the essence of observation selection effects in a simple statement?" He concluded that it might be, but that:

His Self-Sampling Assumption is "that you should think of yourself as if you were a random observer from a suitable reference class." This he expands into a model of anthropic bias and anthropic reasoning under the uncertainty introduced by not knowing your place in our universe - or even who "we" are. This may also be a way to overcome various cognitive bias limits inherent in the humans doing the observation and sharing models of our universe using mathematics, as suggested in the cognitive science of mathematics.

See also

• Fine-tuned universe
• Doomsday argument
• Inverse gambler's fallacy
• Big Bounce
• Anthropic landscape
• Cosmological natural selection

Anthropic principle - Footnote

Note (1): The principle had, however, been invoked before then, e.g. in 1957, R.H. Dicke wrote: 'The age of the Universe "now" is not random but conditioned by biological factors ... [changes in the values of the fundamental constants of physics] would preclude the existence of man to consider the problem.' (R.H. Dicke, Principle of Equivalence and Weak Interactions, Rev.Mod.Phys. 29, 355 (1957).) Even earlier statements of the principle may be found in Alfred Russel Wallace's book Man's Place in the Universe, which was first published in 1903. For example: "such a vast and complex universe as that which we know exists around us, may have been absolutely required ... in order to produce a world that should be precisely adapted in every detail for the orderly development of life culminating in man." (pp. 256-7 in the 1912 edition).

It also has analogs in, e.g., Karl Marx's theory of historical materialism: "The first premise of all human history is, of course, the existence of living human individuals. Thus the first fact to be established is the physical organisation of these individuals and their consequent relation to the rest of nature." (The German Ideology, ch. 1)

Category: Cosmology

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