Comments by "L.W. Paradis" (@l.w.paradis2108) on "Did the Big Bang happen?" video.

  1. David Hume said something very similar in Dialogues On Natural Religion. Striking, really.
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  2. I don't see why that would be the case, unless there is some inherent "aim" of the universe to produce what it did, in fact, produce. But then "probability" is simply the name for our ignorance. The probability that you would exist is, to God's mind, exactly 1, and was 1 all along, because that is what happened. This is not impossible, of course, but notice why it's unscientific: you are assuming what you are trying to prove (namely, Intelligent Design). Intelligent Design puts a scientific gloss on something that is purely a matter of faith. I don't think you can calculate probabilities for all that is theoretically observable in the universe, taken as a whole, because you are placing the initial state outside the realm of the universe, and who knows what principles of causality exist there? We only understand causality from inside the universe, by observing it. So, it makes sense to take some time t-zero, defined as a moment close to but before the time you were conceived, consider that the initial state, and talk about the probability that you would emerge as you -- and even then, you cannot possibly account for all the matter that could have had some effect on your being conceived. But it makes no sense to define that t-zero as being near the beginning of the universe and then talk about the probabilities that the universe would be as we find it today, and include you sitting before your computer at this moment.
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  3.  @DrHarryT  You have absolutely no idea whether those probabilities are comparable. In fact, most physicists and cosmologists would say they are radically different, because we know life exists in the universe, in our local space, we do not know whether it exists anywhere else, and we have no way whatsoever to set the prior probabilities for that. What is the probability space? That has to be defined first. As for the probability of matter itself existing, we have no reason to think it can be calculated prior to matter's existence, even if we assume there is or can be any such time. The probability of any actually existing initial condition is 1. In your scenario, the probability of a red coin existing is 1. Only then can you talk about the probability of finding it under various conditions. No one is blindfolded and looking for matter. They already are made up of matter. You didn't understand my post. Oh well.
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