Gerry asked in reply to my point
> Lee Smolin, the astrophysicist, as a way of explaining the
> Anthropic Principle, does exactly that. Even James Jeans wrote in the
> early 20th century that the Universe resembles a living body more than
> it resembles a machine.
>
> Gerry here: But I can make a case. In the latest issue of Nat'l
> Geographic (Jan. 2000) is depicted the internal structure of a human
as
> similar to the solar system. So not only does the Universe resemble a
> living body, a living body resembles the Universe.
>
> Since I've mentioned this idea a few times, I'd really appreciate a
bit
> of comment, either pro or con.
Yes, a warmish "pro" from me. Having read Smolin's "Life of the
Cosmos" I am convinced that the suggestion that the Universe actually
breeds daughter universes via black holes (as proposed by Alan Guth's
"Inflationary" Grand Unified Theory) seems to hold water. This, Smolin
suggests, sets up the conditions for Darwinian Evolution of Universes.
Eventually, he suggests, most universes would resemble ours -
interesting places in which to live - filled with lots of
self-organising structures. He effectively suggests that this could
not happen by chance, but is built into the structure of our Universe.
The only explanation, Smolin suggests, is that we accept that the
Universe too is alive.
By the way, Smolin also suggests that the Gaia Hypothesis of Lovelock
and Margulis is also probably correct.
Thanks Gerry (Have I got it right this time?) :-)
John