The Anthropic Principal and Goldilocks zone

The adjective “anthropic” relates to the existence of human beings.  Principle means “law.” Thus, the Anthropic Principle is the Law of Human Existence. The Goldilocks zone is an area in space in which a planet is just the right distance from its home star so that its surface is neither too hot nor too cold. If the earth were closer to the sun, we would burn up; if further, we would freeze to death. 

The conditions are just right on earth so that liquid water remains on its surface without either freezing or evaporating. While the earth resides in the habitable zone, the planet Venus roasts in a runaway greenhouse effect and Mars exists as a frozen, arid world. 

In January 2015, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics announced its astronomers had found eight new planets beyond our solar system in the Goldilocks zone. These planets are orbiting at an optimal distance from their parent star. Thus, the existence of liquid water is possible on their surfaces. 

The two most Earth-like planets are designated as Kepler-438b and Kepler-442b. Both planets orbit red dwarf stars that are smaller and cooler than our Sun. Kepler-438b circles its star every 35 days, while Kepler-442b completes one orbit every 112 days.

Here on earth, our existence depends on numerous cosmological constants whose numerical values must reside within a narrow range. If a single variable were off, even slightly, the human race could not exist. 

Consider the microcosmic world of the atom. Protons are positively charged subatomic particles. They combine with non-charged neutrons to form the nucleus of every atom. Circling the nucleus are negatively charged electrons which are held in orbit by the electromagnetic field created by the protons. Protons are 1,836 times larger than electrons. Were they larger or smaller, the atom would not exist, neither would we. 

It is not happenstance that the earth is tilted at exactly 23.5 degrees to control its seasons. Were the sun closer we would burn up. If it were further away, we would freeze to death. The other planets in our solar system are either too cold or too hot to support life. 

It is not an accident that earth’s atmosphere contains exactly the right proportions of gases to sustain human life: oxygen-78 percent, hydrogen-21 percent, argon and other gases-1 percent. Neither is it a chance occurrence that the earth’s gravity is calibrated at a precise setting to keep us from flying off into outer space. To sustain life, the average temperature on earth is 57 degrees Fahrenheit. 

The earth hangs in space, spinning on its axis like a top and moving through space at a speed of 66,600 miles per hour. The earth’s orbit around the sun is 595 million miles. It traverses the sun in 365 days, 6 hours, 9 minutes, and 9.54 seconds. The earth is gravitationally pulled along with the sun as the sun travels around the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. One complete trip takes 200 million years. 

To say that the cosmological factors that govern our earth and the macrocosmic universe are mere happenstance is foolhardy. The fine-tuning of the earth and the clockwork movement of the heavenly bodies bespeak of a supreme intelligence, a transcendental mastermind whose name is God. Job 26:7 reveals how God placed the earth in the Goldilocks Zone: “God hung the earth upon nothing.”