It’s mind boggling that a universe would come into formation and be stable enough to give rise to biological beings like plants, animals, and us! Dr. Michio Kaku ponders this strange but obviously true fact in this 2 minute video clip, in which he discusses the Goldilocks Theory and the many conditions that must be just right to make for life and intelligent beings.
At the end of the clip Dr. Kaku alludes to the existence of other universes that don’t have the benefit of our precisely balanced conditions. But do these hypothetical universes actually explain the fine tuning of ours? And furthermore, is this a science question, a philosophical one, or both?
Goldilocks Theory: What is the Goldilocks Zone for a Planet?
The Goldilocks Theory centers around the Goldilocks Zone, which is the distance that a planet’s orbit can be from its star that allows for temperatures on the surface to be just right for liquid water. In other words, it can't be too close, and it can't be too far, so this Goldilocks Zone is where the conditions are just right for the presence of water, and therefore the planet can potentially support life.
Goldilocks Theory: Is there a "Goldilocks Zone" for universes?
Yes! According to Dr. Kaku and The Goldilocks Theory, this is called the anthropic principle. If the conditions of our universe, such as the strength of gravity or the nuclear force, were just slightly different, we would not be here! But our universe is just right to support the existence of intelligent beings.
This post was originally shared June 17, 2021 and update March 15, 2023.
