"Calculations on the formation and evolution of the Universe have been performed that deliberately varied the values-just slightly-of certain fundamental physical constants. The result?
A Universe in which life as we know it could not exist.
For example, if the difference in mass between a proton and electron were zero, or small (less than the mass of an electron at 0.511 MeV/c^2), there would be no atoms: electrons would be captured by protons and never released again.
Such results have given rise to a philosophical idea called the Anthropic Principle, which says that if the Universe were even a little different than it is, we could not be here.
It might even seem that the Universe is exquisitely tuned, almost as if to accommodate us." (Giancoli)
Beautiful.
Check out this Ted Talk by Brian Greene on String Theory as a nice follow up to this post.
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