We (Royal We) exist in a mathematically precise and deterministic Cosmos. Why is this so? How is this possible? Randomness has a far higher probability of being the be-all-and-end-all of cosmic things. There are many ways to generate disorder and only a relatively few ways to generate order. If there were pure randomness in the cosmos then the speed of light wouldn’t be a constant; gravity would be in flux; sometimes chlorine would combine with sodium and sometimes they wouldn’t combine to form table salt; electric charge would vary from moment to moment, and even moments wouldn’t be consistent. Randomness has apparently been programmed out of the Cosmos. Certainty has been programmed in.

Whereas some see this by pure chance and others see this due to a deity (or deities), I see just a humble computer / software programmer at work. This is known as the Simulation Hypothesis – we ‘exist’ inside a computer simulation. That said, I’m a bit reluctant to use the word “purpose” with respect to such a programmer, preferring a programmed ‘cast your fate to the wind’ Cosmos otherwise known as a “what if” Cosmos. The Cosmos is unfolding in a “what if” way, a sort of “what if I / we run this cosmic program instead of that cosmic program and just sit back and see what happens”? That’s in contrast to a ‘puppet on a string’ Cosmos which would imply that there is a pre-designed purpose that resided in the mind of the programmer, very much akin to our video games. In that sort of “on purpose” Cosmos, we’re (and everything else) are just ‘puppets on a string’. Again, randomness has apparently been programmed out of the Cosmos. Certainty has been programmed in.

Example Number One: A JOHN* Cosmos

Take the letters “H”, “J”, “N” and “O” and toss them into a hat and pull all four letters out at random and combine them to make a word. There are 24 possible combinations. JOHN, JONH, JHNO, JNHO, JHON, JNOH, OHNJ, ONHJ, OHJN, ONJH, OJNH, OJHN, HNJO, HNOJ, HONJ, HOJN, HJON, HJNO, NHOJ, NHJO, NJHO, NJOH, NOJH, and NOHJ.

Of the 24 possible four-letter combinations, only one makes any sense in our anthropic cosmos – JOHN. The other 23 are meaningless yet just as probable in a random cosmos. So there are vastly more ways to generate meaningless randomness than meaningful relationships, yet we exist in a JOHN cosmos, not a NHOJ cosmos. So why is this a JOHN cosmos and not a OHNJ or HNJO or NJOH cosmos, or even have all 24 variations on the theme coming and going interchangeably in a willy-nilly fashion? Might it be by deliberate design? Is this somehow programmed? It’s impossible to say it’s impossible. It’s even unlikely to say that it’s unlikely.

Example Number Two: E Doesn’t Equal M-Squared x C

We’re all familiar with Einstein’s famous equation that relates mass (M) and energy (E), “E equals MC-Squared”. Let’s just take as a given the “E equals” part. Just using M, C (the speed of light in a perfect vacuum), and the exponent two (i.e. – Squared) plus all of the four major mathematical operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division), we can come up with numerous variations on the mass / energy relationship. For example, “E equals CM-Squared” or “E equals M/C-Squared” or “E equals M plus C-Squared” or “E equals M minus C-Squared” and so on and so on. However, only one of these mathematical relationships describes ‘reality’. All of the other possibilities are meaningless waffle. So, it appears yet again as if we have some sort of deliberately designed selection effect, in effect. It all looks programmed.

Now a program requires a programmer since I can’t think of a way that natural selection would weed out the unfit random factor and select for non-randomness. Presumably a supernatural entity wouldn’t have to go to all that programming trouble, rather just order the Cosmos by sheer force of mind or wave His magic wand and all would be cosmically A-OK. But a mortal computer / software programmer would have to seriously pay attention and design a rigorous clockwork Cosmos. Otherwise all would fall apart at the seams. There’s no mind over matter; no magic wands; just well-designed software.

Finally, we exist in what has been described over the centuries as a mathematical cosmos. That is, all of the laws, principles and relationships in all of the physics that describe the Cosmos can be stated mathematically. It would appear that Mother Nature dictates the actual equations. We don’t get to invent willy-nilly, for example, the equation that describes the relationship between mass and energy. There is no requirement that these equations be relatively simple. Yet, unless I’ve seriously misread things, all of the basic fundamental equations that describe the laws, principles and relationships part and parcel of the cosmos are simple in the sense that the coefficients and exponents all tend to be simple low value whole numbers (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc.) or simple fractions (1/2, 1/4, 1/3, etc.). Surely given the vast number of such equations, that can’t just be a coincidence. It would seem to defy probability. Perhaps this is evidence for the Simulation Hypothesis showing us a degree of design and fine-tuning. Equations seem in their simplicity to be designed and the answers they give are obviously fine-tuned. Software almost by definition has to be designed and fine-tuned to be useful and meaningful.

* “JOHN” is acting here as a general representation of anything that apparently could exist in a Heinz 57-variety manner, yet only one such variety is exclusively available.