Gratuitous Atheism

Via BBspot...

A Blog called the The Daily Galaxy posted a piece on recent studies of Thermodynamics where simulation models suggest that life is "hardwired" into the Universe. Essentially, the argument is that the Universe is structured in such a way that life as we know it is practically unavoidable.

They also match those in simulations of early Earth, and most critically, those simulations were performed by other people.  The implications are staggering: good news for anyone worried about how we're alone, and bad news for anyone who demands some kind of "Designer" to put life together - it seems that physics can assemble the organic jigsaw all by itself, thank you very much, and has probably done so throughout space since the beginning of everything.

I can understand the how this is bad news for someone who subscribes to "official" Intelligent Design -- the idea that life is too complex to arise on its own. Intelligent Design (as I've mentioned before) tries to argue that life still required special creation since (as it argues) the chances of its self-origination are beyond astronomical. Personally, I find Intelligent Design's arguments to be highly specious (and so does the pope, from what I understand).

But I also find it logically staggering that the idea of the universe being "hardwired" for life would somehow be proof of the non-existence of God. To a scientist, I understand how this allows him to operate with a God in the equation. A God is not necessary, therefore we can explain nature without resorting to supernatural explanations. And, really, we shouldn't want scientists to use God to explain nature. We don't look at God to figure out how the universe works...that's backwards, and it puts the universe front and center, with God merely being supporting cast.
We are supposed to look at the universe to understand how God works.

This is also why, logically, religion can't be completely eliminated by science.

If I ask you "What kind of God would make a universe this way?", you will always be able to come up with an answer. It might not be the right answer, but it is always possible. It is impossible to disprove or prove the existence of God based on laws of physics.

Still...the idea that the universe seems "hardwired" for life tempts me to think that the universe's purpose is the creation of life. Science doesn't do well with the idea of purpose, though. Modern science is all about happy coincidence. We benefit from the dumbluck that the universe simply must generate life. It would be silly to think that perhaps the universe is supposed to create life...because, you know, it was programmed to do that.

There really isn't anything God could do to prove His existence other than reveal Himself in His full glory...but by then it will be Game Over.