Do you believe in miracles?

[ThisYouWillDo]

Why? As you state, there HAS to be a universe, or we couldn't be here. But it didn't HAVE to turn out this way. If it were different, then we would be different, or at least beings in that universe would be different. And they would undoubtedly be standing around wondering how they could have gotten so lucky to have the universe turn out perfectly to suit them!

No, chance plays its part, but it is WE who are attuned to this universe, not the other way around. If it is possible for life to exist on a world without water (and that means ANY kind of life, not just life as we know it) then there is a possibility for that life to advance to a point of intelligence, or what we would recognize as intelligence. Their universe would be much different than ours, but it's still the same "multiverse."

You're mixing universes and multiverses up. But I understand what you say. Life may be very common in this universe, and if it had come into existence in another way, life forms might still have been tenable. But it seems far more probable that it would have been absolutely sterile. For that reason alone it is not surprising that we think we see the hand of some greater being at work.

With a multiverse, there will be countless numbers of universes each having its own separate existence and its own set of scientific laws. It seems likely to me that many, many of them will support life in one form or another, but that many, many, many more will be utterly devoid of anything even remotely resembling life. The Hand of God will not be so obvious.

By damn, that makes me perfect! Where are all the ladies?

Sitting at my feet with rapt adoration.

TYWD

[Thorne]

You're mixing universes and multiverses up. But I understand what you say. Life may be very common in this universe, and if it had come into existence in another way, life forms might still have been tenable. But it seems far more probable that it would have been absolutely sterile. For that reason alone it is not surprising that we think we see the hand of some greater being at work.

I don't think this is accurate. More and more, scientists are finding that life seems to thrive under absolutely horrible conditions. There is evidence that life may have existed on Mars, even if it doesn't now, and there MAY possibly be life on some of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn. Even here on Earth they have found life existing in environments which, just 30 years ago, they would have assumed to be sterile.
My point is, though, that just because man is the only intelligent species on the planet (as defined by ourselves: I'm not forgetting the cetaceans or other apes) we should not make the assumption that there must have been a higher being to create us. If that asteroid hadn't wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, is it possible that a saurian intelligence could have arisen here, rather than mammalian?
Let's face it: so far, 100% of the stellar systems we are able to study have intelligent life. The odds are good that there is more out there, somewhere, and it doesn't have to be mammalian or saurian or even carbon-based.

By damn, that makes me perfect! Where are all the ladies?
Sitting at my feet with rapt adoration.

Hmm, I guess I'll have to bring myself down to your level, then.