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rangeDSP t1_jcvn72j wrote

> “The problem for Hawking was his struggle to understand how the universe could have created conditions so perfectly hospitable to life,” says Hertog, a cosmologist currently based at KU Leuven University in Belgium.

Didn't he "solve" that question by invoking the anthropic principle? As per the original book, if we apply strong anthropic principle, the universe is perfectly hospitable precisely because we are here to observe it, if it was not perfect, there wouldn't be an observer.

Guess I'll have to read the new book when it comes out...

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chaogomu t1_jcvqr8n wrote

I forget who first said it, From the water's perspective it's a pothole is perfectly shaped to hold it. It exactly contours to the shape of the water, so must have been created for that water.

Now, we know that this is a backwards way to look at things. So why do we look at the universe that way?

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ozamataz_b t1_jcw5g0l wrote

“If you imagine a puddle waking up one morning and thinking, 'This is an interesting world I find myself in — an interesting hole I find myself in — fits me rather neatly, doesn't it? In fact it fits me staggeringly well, must have been made to have me in it!" - Douglas Adams

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chaogomu t1_jcw5pct wrote

Thanks. That has been bugging me for the last hour.

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ZealousidealClub4119 OP t1_jcvoi9g wrote

The piece implies Hawking and Hertog rethought the relationship between scientific theory and reality along the lines of theories are emergent from the evolving nature of reality.

Yes, I realise that previous sentence is a nebulous string of profound sounding buzzwords. I'm interested to see what H & H have come up with.

Looking forward to the book.

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kenlasalle t1_jcviu19 wrote

That's true. It's slightly longer than "brief."

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mikebug t1_jcvzwmb wrote

just wondering - can we show that the passage of time has always been consistent?

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ZealousidealClub4119 OP t1_jcw1a0g wrote

No, because it isn't.

We can currently detect time dilation due to different strengths of gravitational field experienced by two 'atomic clocks', separated by a vertical distance of one metre.

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TechnologicalDarkage t1_jcvl703 wrote

Evolution requires a population with heredity and selection pressures. I guess I don’t know what Hertog is talking about.

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