Lesson Outline Phase II Writers s2

4b: The Anthropic Principle

Unit Overview

Background information / abstract

This unit aims to help students understand some of the arguments concerning the design of the universe and the possibility of this having been the result of a deliberate creation by a designer God. They will look at the nature of the Anthropic principle and the weak and strong anthropic arguments. These will be compared to the scientific process of looking for causality. There will be opportunities to apply these principles in different scenarios through a role play game. There is one lesson considering the possibility of extraterrestrial intelligence and its implications for theological doctrines.

Learning Opportunities

Lesson 1. The students will be guided through a PowerPpoint presentation which explains the Anthropic principle. They will then have the opportunity to prepare an outline of this principle for GCSE students.

Lesson 2. Through a game using different characters and scenarios, the students will reinforce their understanding of the Anthropic principle.

Lesson 3. Using a PowerPoint presentation the students will look at some of the evidence and research into extra terrestrial life. They will make posters of these ideas which will also reflect their ideas of some of the implications of these ideas. Finally the impact on belief in God of the possible existence of extra terrestrial life will be discussed.

Background information (see Student Resource Sheet 3 Anthropic Arguments and Questions)

The material that goes with this topic deals with various issues connected with the Anthropic principle. In outline, this is the observation that our existence is dependent on a variety of features of the physical makeup of the universe. At another level, some push the Anthropic observations further to a claim that the laws of nature are set up to make it inevitable that life of some form would eventually appear in the universe. People who are comfortable with this stronger form of the Anthropic principle either justify it in terms of the universe being a creation of God who willed the laws of nature to have a particularly fruitful form, or that the whole thing is simply a fortuitous coincidence.

Weak Anthropic argument: Weak Anthropic principle – the universe is the way we see it now, because if it were any different intelligent life could not exist. The weak Anthropic principle is taking the fact of our existence and using it to draw conclusions about the universe.

Science and Religion in Schools Project – Unit 4b: The Anthropic Principle Strong Anthropic argument: Strong Anthropic principle – the universe must be the way that it is in order to allow intelligent life to evolve. Now our existence is not simply being taken as a fact. The strong Anthropic principle is elevating our existence into a necessity. What the strong Anthropic principle is saying is that any universe governed by laws of nature such as ours would inevitably evolve intelligent life sooner or later. This is a much more controversial statement.

Causality: Anthropic arguments reverse the normal sequence of scientific reasoning. Normally scientists explain one event in terms of something that happened earlier – “the football is flying across the room because I kicked it”. An anthropic argument would take the current events and try to use them to explain the previous events – “the fact that the football is flying across the room shows that I must have kicked it”. The more normal argument could be called a causal argument – the cause of an event must come before the event. Scientists are normally searching for causal links between things (something happens because of something else). This is why many scientists are unhappy with the idea of an anthropic principle having any explanatory power at all.

Teacher support materials http://www.leaderu.com/offices/billcraig/docs/teleo.html - a detailed look at the Anthropic principle and teleological arguments, quite advanced

Are We Alone? The philosophical basis of the search for extraterrestrial life” by Paul Davies Penguin 1995 http://setiweb.ssl.berkeley.edu/books.php

Key Quotations

“I do not believe that any scientist who examined the evidence would fail to draw the inference that the laws of nuclear physics have been deliberately designed with regard to the consequences they produce inside stars. If this is so, then my apparently random quirks have become part of a deep-laid scheme. If not, then we are back again at a monstrous sequence of accidents”.

Fred Hoyle 1915 –2001.

Science and Religion in Schools Project – Unit 4b: The Anthropic Principle Aims of the topic

At the end of the topic most students will have:

 Understood the meaning of the Anthropic principle  Identified the difference between weak and strong Anthropic arguments.  Examined the difference between Anthropic and causal arguments.  Considered some of the theological implications of the Anthropic principle.  Considered the possibilities of extraterrestrial intelligence.  Thought about the theological questions raised by the possible existence of extraterrestrial intelligence.

Some will not have progressed as far but will have:

 Understood what is meant by the Anthropic principle.  Realised that there are two different kinds of Anthropic argument.  Examined the importance of the causes of events for scientists.  Thought about whether there might be extraterrestrial intelligence.  Realised that these issues have implications for thinking about the existence of a creator God.

Others will have progressed further and will have:

 Examined the implications theologically of the Anthropic principle.  Analysed different examples of weak and strong Anthropic arguments.  Thought about scientific methods of enquiry.  Evaluated evidence for extraterrestrial intelligence.  Considered a range of theological doctrines which would be influenced by the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence.

Key Questions

 Is the universe as we know it the result the actions of a designer God?  Does the nature of the universe inevitably lead to the existence of intelligent life?  Is looking at causality the only way to carry out valid research?  How convincing is the evidence for the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence?  Can we still believe in God if there is intelligent life elsewhere in the universe?

Science and Religion in Schools Project – Unit 4b: The Anthropic Principle Learning Objectives

 Be able to explain the Anthropic principle.  Be able to identify weak and strong Anthropic arguments.  Be able to explain the difference between Anthropic and causal arguments.  Be able to present some of the evidence for the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence.  Be able to explain some of the theological questions raised by, and implications of, these issues.

Learning Outcomes

 Have completed a comprehension exercise about the Anthropic principle.  Taken part in a role play consideration of weak and strong Anthropic arguments.  Have given examples of weak, strong and causal arguments.  Have made presentations of the possibility of extraterrestrial intelligence.  Have considered some of the theological implications of these questions.

Resources

 4b Overview  Student Resource Sheet 1 - Anthropic Arguments (PowerPoint)  Student Resource Sheet 2 - Cosmological Consequences Game (Role Play)  Student Resource Sheet 3 - Anthropic Arguments and Questions.  Student Resource Sheet 3[LA] - Anthropic Arguments and Questions.  Student Resource Sheet 4 - Quotations; ‘Anthropacisms’.  Student Resource Sheet 5 - SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) (PowerPoint)

 ‘Dawkins’ God; Genes, Memes, and the meaning of life’ by Alistr McGrath (Blackwell).  Are We Alone? The philosophical basis of the search for extraterrestrial life” by Paul Davies Penguin 1995

Web sites

 http://setiweb.ssl.berkeley.edu/books.php  http://www.leaderu.com/offices/billcraig/docs/teleo.html

Science and Religion in Schools Project – Unit 4b: The Anthropic Principle