Is there a creator? A scientific perspective Part 2

Prof. Dr. Abdul Haque

(abdulhaque.com.pk) 

There is a creator

            For this debate let me start with common sense discussion. Then I will move towards scientific evidence.

We all know that capacity of a mind to think and infer is limited. If we look around ourselves, we see that different animals have different capacity or intelligence. We, the humans are superior to all other animals in this aspect. Let me give an example. My pet cat knows that moving an electric switch downwards lit the room and moving it upwards makes it dark again but he will never know how this happens. This is because of his inferior capacity to think and infer.

Likewise, human mind too has limitations although it is also true that we are yet to achieve full utilization of our mental capacity. If a man who lived two hundred years ago wakes up in today’s world, he will become insane because what mankind has achieved in last 200 years was totally unthinkable for humans living in that era. And probably same thing will happen if we come back to life after 200 years.

Even science acknowledges the limitations of human mind:

1. There are four dimensions accroding to scientists and human mind can work only in three dimensions. It cannot understand Nothingness (no dimension or time). [Ref 1]
2. It cannot fully understand death.
3. Very big and very small sizes are uncoprehensible.
4. Similarly very fast and very slow speeds are difficult to understand.

It is true that wih our limited mental abilities, we have not been able to find a direct evidence whether a creator exists or does not exist. We have to work within the framework of our limited mental capacity.

But indirect evidence is acceptable in science. For example no one has seen an electron but because its existence explains many things, we accept that it is  present indeed.

So what is the indirect evidence in favor of a creator?

Let me put up some questions and answer them.

1. How it is possible that there was nothing before Big Bang?

It is impossible. It is against all scientific logic. Nobody, no scientist, has ever observed anything coming into existence from nothing.

It may be that particles of matter and antimatter can come into existence from a quantum field, but where does the quantum field come from? A quantum field is not nothing! It is energy in some form, and matter and energy are interconvertible by E= mc2.

The law of Cause and Effect says that in order for there to be a beginning to the long line of causes and effects, there must be an Uncaused Cause. And this Uncaused Cause is the creator. Someone outside of this universe who created this Universe.

Another argument can be that the universe is eternal. But it is against the Second Law of Thermodynamics and Entropy which states that all things are constantly running out of energy and moving toward disorder. If the universe is infinite, it would have already reached a state of total disorder and heat death.

2. If there was something before the Big Bang, did Big Bang occurred accidentally?

Oxford University mathematical physicist and Nobel Laureate Roger Penrose published a paper [Ref 2] in which he calculated the probabilities of the Universe accidently coming into creation without a deliberate architect.

Penrose’s calculations showed that:

The accuracy required for the creation of a universe was to the extent of 1 in 10 ¹²³, that is 1 followed by 10 to       the 123rd power.

This is an unthinkable level of  accuracy and precision.

      If there was even a slightest deviation, there would have been no universe.

As Penrose puts it, that is a “number which it would be impossible to write out in the usual decimal way, because even if you were able to put a zero on every particle in the universe, there would not even be enough particles to do the job.”

Oxford University Professor of Mathematics John Lennox double checked Penrose’s numbers and found them to be extremely precise [Ref 3].

     That is the degree of accuracy that was demonstrated when the Universe was created.

There are some other scientific facts worth mentioning:

1. An optimal expansion rate: The birth of the Universe took place with exactly the right amount of force. Stephen Hawking states, “If the rate of expansion one second after the Big Bang had been smaller by even one part in a hundred thousand million million, the Universe would have re-collapsed before it ever reached its present size” [Ref 4].
2. A consistently controlled expansion rate: At the same time that the expansion rate had to be great enough for the Universe to avoid a big crunch, if its outward force had been ever so slightly greater, no stars or galaxies would have formed [Ref 4].
3. Force of gravity: If the gravitational force were altered by even 10^-38 (0.00000000000000000000000000000000000001%), neither Earth nor our Sun would have existed.

So there is enough scientific evidence to suggest that the Universe was not created by chance.

If it was not created by chance, then it was created deliberately.

If we can conclude that it was created deliberately, then we must conclude that there was a creator.

3. But why the universe was created?

The simple answer is that it was created to create life.

Stephen Hawking raised this issue years ago in his popular book   “A Brief History of Time”. He suggested that this “vast number of stars and galaxies seems a waste.”      

But ongoing research points out that the massiveness of the cosmos is directly relevant to life’s existence. We need it for essential construction materials. Put simply, it takes a lot of time and a lot of space for there to be life anywhere.

Three generations of stars were needed to produce enough heavy elements to allow life. Supernovae provide the heaviest elements like Uranium and Thorium which are needed for the Earth’s tectonic plate action and hot rotating core which gives us our magnetic field. That field is totally necessary to protect us from radiation from the sun and universe (stellar wind). Otherwise, there will be no life.

In order for the Universe to be formed in a manner that resulted in sustaining life on Earth the following had to work in perfect harmony:

1. Oxygen Level: On Earth, oxygen comprises 21 percent of the atmosphere. That precise figure is an Anthropic Constant that makes life on Earth possible. If oxygen were 25%, fires would erupt spontaneously, if it were 15%, human beings would suffocate [Ref 5].
2. Atmospheric Transparency: If the atmosphere were less transparent, not enough solar radiation would reach the Earth’s surface. If it were more transparent, we would be bombarded with far too much solar radiation down here. In addition to atmospheric transparency, the atmospheric composition of precise levels of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and ozone are in themselves Anthropic constants [Ref 5].
3. Moon-Earth Gravitational Interaction: If the interaction were greater than it currently is, tidal effects on the oceans, atmosphere, and rotational period would be too severe. If it were less, orbital changes would cause climatic instabilities. In either event, life on Earth would be impossible.
4. Carbon Dioxide level: If the CO₂ level were higher, we would all burn up. If the level were lower, plants would not be able to maintain efficient photosynthesis. As a result we would all suffocate.
5. Water Vapor Levels: If water vapor levels in the atmosphere were greater, temperatures will become too high for human life. If they were less Earth would become too cold to support human life.

4. Earth is 4.5 billion years old. Is it enough time for life to originate and to have the extreme diversity of living beings which we have?

Creation of life and variety of living beings we have today since the creation of the earth has been equated to a storm passing through a room and creating a car.

There is no possible way that it happened “just by chance”.

We know that mutations are random, but natural selection is the force that drives evolution forward. Natural selection is not random and is not by chance. It is, in fact, a non-random process guided by the “survival of the fittest” rule. It means that better adapted members of a species are more likely to survive long enough to pass on their genes to future generations. These changes accumulate overtime to give rise to new species.

       The question is who drives natural selection and gives it a direction?

      There has to be a creator.

…………..

So there must be what scientists say, an Uncaused Cause. This Uncaused Cause must be:

1. Extremely powerful (to create out of nothing)
2. Separate from the universe (because it was created and isn’t infinite)
3. Timeless (because space, time, and matter are all connected by general relativity, and proven by Einstein’s E=MC^2)
4. Willful (for the universe was created in a state of order, with natural laws and forces balanced for the existence of life. Random creation never results in true order like we see in our universe.)

This Uncaused Cause is known with various names in different religions: God by Christians, Yahweh by Jews, Barhamah or Ishvara by Hindus and Allah by Muslims.

The most compact and complete description of a creator (Allah) is given in the Holy Quran in Surah Ikhlas Chapter 112 verses 1-4.

1. Say that Allah is One and Only;
2. Allah is eternal and absolute;
3. No one gave birth to Him nor He gave birth to anyone;
4. And there is no one like Him;

 

References:

1. How to Think About a Four-Dimensional Universe. 11-Nov-2023. Universe Today https://www.universetoday.com.
2. Penrose R. The Emperor’s New Mind, Oxford University Press Publication November 9, 1989.
3. OK…I want numbers. What is the probability the universe is the result of chance? Posted on December 1, 2010 By Scott Youngren https://godevidence.com › 2010/12 › ok-i-want-numbers
4. The Fine-Tuning of the Universe – 08-Jul-2021. Effective Thoughts. https://effectivethoughts.net › the-fine-tuning-of-the-un.
5. Application of New Cybernetics in Physics, 2017. Anthropic Principle – an overview | ScienceDirect Topics. ScienceDirect.com. https://www.sciencedirect.com