[extropy-chat] Atheism in Decline

[scerir]

From: "Diego Caleiro"

> Where did you get this Frank Wilczek phrase from?

"Modern theories of the interactions among elementary particles suggest that
the universe can exist in different phases that are analogous in a way to
the
liquid and solid phases of water. In the various phases the properties of
matter are different; for example, a certain particle might be massless
in one phase but massive in another. The laws of physics are more
symmetrical
in some phases than they are in others, just as liquid water is more
symmetrical than ice, in which the crystal lattice distinguishes certain
positions and directions in space.In these theories the most symmetrical
phase of the universe turns out to be unstable. One can speculate that the
universe began in the most symmetrical state possible and that in such a
state no matter existed. The second state had slightly less symmetry, but it
was also lower in energy. Eventually a patch of the less symmetrical phase
appeared and grew rapidly. The energy released by the transition found form
in the creation of particles. This event might be identified with the big
bang. The electrical neutrality of the universe of particles would then be
guaranteed, because the universe lacking matter had been electrically
neutral.
The lack of rotation in the universe could be understood as being among the
conditions
most favorable for the phase change and the subsequent growth, with all that
the growth implied, including the cosmic asymmetry between matter and
antimatter. The answer to the ancient question "Why is there something
rather
than nothing?" would then be that "nothing" is unstable."

"The Cosmic Asymmetry Between Matter and Antimatter",
by Frank Wilczek ('Scientific American', Dec.1980)

Wilczek, 2004 Nobelist, reads e-mails, and very often
he also responds. So you could ask him whether he still
believes in the above, after 25 years
http://web.mit.edu/physics/facultyandstaff/faculty/frank_wilczek.html