I can agree. We can gather evidence but never gain complete certainty.We can be certain about was sufficiently observed/verified but it would help to remember that observations of the physical world only verify the effects not the facts. We can observe the effects of a physical force such as gravity but the nature of this invisible force, why it has this power, why it has a specific value, we may never know. We maybe happy with our measurements of these effects but this limited achievement is as far as we can go. The facts or the nature of these forces will always be a mystery that can not be verified, nonetheless we accept it's existence as a fact.
“We can’t understand it, therefore it’s God” is the argument from ignorance fallacy.I see this as a perfect example of God. A mysterious force of a higher level. Had a massive influence at the big bang and the creation/calibration of all physical forces. We can see the effect but never understand the fact. This will always be the case.
Yes, a possibility necessarily means that it reflects some configuration, but that does not mean that every imaginable configuration is actually possible. Mankind has imagined quite a few configurations that are impossible in reality. Take the impossible staircase, for example.I expected this response but this logic wouldn't work. Possibilities and configurations are inseparable like two sides of a coin. If you have a dice with 6 numbers. You have 1/6 chance for any number to appear. If all numbers are same, then it will always appear but if you don't have a dice (configuration), what is the possibility? There is no possibility. The configuration should exist first before you can have any possibility. It's not logical to assume a possibility in absence of existing verified configurations.
The configurations should exist so you would have a possibility.
Imagining a possibility without existing configuration is an illusion.
If the configurations didn't exist, then there is no possibility.
I can also imagine a configuration for a universe that is impossible in reality: a universe identical to our own in every way except that magnetism doesn’t exist. This universe is impossible because a magnetic field is just an electric field that is viewed from a relativistic reference frame. Any universe where both electric fields and relativity exist, magnetic fields must also exist. However, to someone living hundreds of years ago who thought that magnetism and electricity were separate forces, they might have thought that this universe configuration was plausible when in reality it isn’t. So the same might be true of any universe configuration other than our own. Maybe all alternate configurations contain contradictions like this that we are not aware of. If this is so, then no alternative configurations were ever possible in the first place. There then would be no mystery as to why the laws of physics have the values they have.
No problem there. Configurations can exist conceptually without actually being possible physically (as I pointed out with the impossible staircase and the magnetism-less universe.Possibility is meaningless in absence of configurations. You would necessarily have "0" possibility unless the configurations do exist. Possibility needs elements (dice), process (force to throw the dice) and end result (a possibility). If the elements of possibility are missing, there is no possibility. the blue marble (configuration) should be first in the basin so you would have a possibility.
Yet our universe does exist, so it must be possible. We don't know if any other universe configurations are possible because we don't know if they can exist.If the configuration didn't exist yet the blue marble appeared after the process, then this was not a possibility.
In this example, math and logic are axiomatic: they just “are”. 12 kilograms weighs more than 10 kilograms and 2+2=4 whether or not anyone is around to know it or not. They are the way they are because they could not have been any different. If you can describe how 2+2 could equal 5, I’d like to hear it.What logic? The only logic would be the end result of forming the universe but If you have a mindless process with no end purpose, what would be the logic? And if you have a logic, what would enforce it? Math can measure an effect but it wouldn't create an effect. The force does.
My answer remains the same as before: a lack of alternatives.If that was not an intended purpose, then what would govern the values of the constants?why should the marble be blue?
The blue marble or the universe itself has numerous components and physical forces. If you don't have end purpose, or intelligent process, Why these forces existed? Why the specific value?
What controlls the forces to have specific values in relation to each other so it would form the universe? Let alone the values of the constants, why these mysterious forces exist to begin with. We know these forces formed the universe but what created the forces?
all the numerous forces worked collectively to Create the universe.
Mindless processes still operate in accordance to logic and math. A rolling die isn’t intelligent but it does give results that fall within a predictable range (you can’t roll a seven on a six-sided die and each number has an equal probability of showing up. Those are two rules of logic present in a mindless process).If its a mindless process then,There is no logic.
A mindless random process wouldn't have any logic.
You’re assuming there is a goal that is being worked towards in the first place.Why would mindless process with no logic, forces all elements to work collectively towards a goal?
There is no such thing as “before the beginning”. It’s like saying “north of the north pole”. Not even God could exist before time existed, because time itself is the very context where terms like “before” and “after” are meaningful.You imply that the configurations/possibilities existed before the beginning. If the configuration came after the beginning, then it's not a possibility.
This doesn't imply a possibility. It implies existence of configuration before time.
Agreed, except for “purpose”In absence of logic, purpose , configurations, you don't have any marbles or any process to create it.
If possibilities did not exist initially then nothing would be possible, not even God. Remember, no such thing as “before” the beginning. Saying that God is "beyond time" doesn't fix it, either: being "beyond time" is not the same as saying "before time".You are forcing all possibilities to existence back before the beginning point. The beginning had no configurations/No possibilities.