宇宙的微調──當代設計論證的評估/關啟文

撮要

不少人認為每一個新科學發展都會對宗教作出打擊,但近代宇宙學的重大發現「宇宙的微調」(Fine-tuning of the Universe)卻似乎指向宇宙設計師的可能性,因為整個宇宙的爆炸和基本設計好像都是經過精微的調校,以致生命能夠出現,只要有最輕微的改動,生命的出現都變成不可能。本文首先介紹宇宙微調的種種現象,如大爆炸的速率,基本定律的常數值,碳等元素的核共振水平(nuclear resonance level)等;然後指出有神論對宇宙微調的解釋有初步合理性,當然也受到各種批評;最後我會就着十種主要批評作出回應。我承認這課題還有很多複雜問題要處理(如多重宇宙),但當代科學發展的確使設計論證以宇宙微調論的形式復甦,而這論證是不可忽略的。

 

ABSTRACT

Many people believe that new scientific discoveries will always pose challenges for religion. However, recent cosmological discoveries which have been described as the fine-tuning of the universe apparently point to the possibility of a Cosmic Designer. It is because both the Big Bang and the basic structure of the universe seem to have been exquisitely fine-tuned to make the emergence of life possible. Even a small degree of change in these matters will make life impossible. In this paper, I will first introduce the various phenomena of the fine-tuning of the universe, e.g., the expansion rate of the Big Bang, the precise values of the constants of the basic physical laws, the nuclear resonance levels of elements like carbon. Then I will argue for the initial plausibility of the theistic interpretation of the fine-tuning, which, of course, is also facing a lot of challenges. Finally, I will respond to ten major criticisms of the argument from fine-tuning. I admit that there are still many complicated issues to discuss (e.g.,multiverse) but I conclude that the contemporary discoveries of the fine-tuning indeed revive the design argument in the form of the argument from fine-tuning, and this argument should not be dismissed cavalierly.

原載於《建道學刊》36期(2011年7月),頁1-24。