Anthropic principle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The
anthropic principle is the
philosophical consideration that observations of the
Universe must be compatible with the
conscious and
sapient life that observes it. Some proponents of the anthropic principle reason that it explains why this universe has the
age and the
fundamental physical constants necessary to accommodate conscious life. As a result, they believe it is unremarkable that this universe has fundamental constants that happen to fall within the
narrow range thought to be compatible with life.
[1][2] The strong anthropic principle (SAP) as explained by
John D. Barrow and
Frank Tipler states that this is all the case because the universe is in some sense compelled to eventually have conscious and sapient life
emerge within it. Some critics of the SAP argue in favor of a weak anthropic principle (WAP) similar to the one defined by
Brandon Carter, which states that the universe's ostensible fine tuning is the result of
selection bias: i.e., only in a universe capable of eventually supporting life will there be living beings capable of observing and reflecting upon fine tuning. Most often such arguments draw upon some notion of the
multiverse for there to be a
statistical population of universes to select from and from which selection bias (our observance of
only this universe, compatible with
our life) could occur.