#81 The Definition of Impossible

We have all heard the expression that “anything could happen” and we typically accept the proposition without thinking about it too deeply. If you then add in the concept of huge amounts of time or even infinity, well then “anything could happen.” This is typically part of the argument for evolution.

I want to take a deeper look at what might really be possible and what is in reality impossible by trying to construct a useful definition of what is impossible.

I give credit for this idea to a mathematician named William Dembski in his book, The Design Revolution. He clearly put a lot of deep thought into what is possible and what is impossible and why.

He devises a number which he calls a “universal probability limit.” This is a number limit that no reasonable person, certainly no person of science or math, could ever argue with. The number is 10¹⁵⁰. The working definition is that if the likelihood of some event is less than one in 10¹⁵⁰, it is beyond the universal limit and will never happen and could never happen.

I am henceforth going to call that number “the definition of impossible.”

Where this number comes from is very important. First you take the number of all the protons, electrons, and neutrons in the universe. That is 10⁸⁰. Next you multiply that number by the number of seconds since the universe started at the “Big Bang.” That is 4.0 x 10¹⁷ seconds. Now, lastly, you multiply that by what is theoretically the smallest unit of time, the Planck Unit. There are 10⁴³ Planck units in a second.

You have to practically be a PhD in mathematics to understand a Planck unit, but look that up if you are interested. It’s something like the time it takes the speed of light to pass a proton.

Now if we multiply those three numbers together, we get 10⁸⁰ x 4.0 x 10¹⁷ x 10⁴³ or approximately 10¹⁴⁰. Just for good measure, let’s multiply this by ten billion more and we get the number 10¹⁵⁰. This is how Dembski got the “universal probability limit” or what I’m calling the “definition of impossible.”   

If the likelihood of an event is 1 in 10¹⁵⁰, or anywhere close, and especially anywhere exceeding that, then it is impossible.

Let’s take a fairly simple example of coin flipping. There are only two possibilities for random flipping of a coin, either heads or tails. 

What is the possibility that you can flip the coin and it will land on heads 1,000 times in a row? It would be ½ x ½ x ½ ….on and on up to 1,000. There is one chance in 2¹⁰⁰⁰. That converts to one chance in 10³⁰¹.

1000 coins

The conclusion is that it is impossible if we use the “definition” we just established.

So think of it this way. Even if you had one person for every proton, electron, and neutron in the whole universe and they were flipping coins AND they could do 1,000 flips every Planck unit of time since the beginning of the universe, they wouldn’t even come close to an outcome of all heads. They have hardly gotten started. Conclusion, it’s impossible. The chances are just too small for it ever to happen by accident.

We now have a more realistic understanding of “anything can happen.” Actually, as you can see for yourself, it can’t.

Did I lose you? Let’s go one more simple step and see if that helps. Suppose instead of flipping a coin, you are rolling a die that has six sides and want to get the side with the “one” mark on it to come up 1,000 times in a row. 

You can see that is way “harder” than getting 1,000 heads in coin flipping. It’s way more impossible, right?

Getting a “one” would be 1/6 x 1/6 x 1/6 … on and on up to 1,000. This is a much, much bigger number, i.e. 6¹⁰⁰⁰. Totally impossible. Are you with me?

And now the final point to show that life did not happen by accident. It is totally impossible to a much, much greater degree than flipping coins or rolling dice.

There are 20 to 22 different so-called “standard” amino acids required by all life forms, even the very simplest living cell [1]. 

And those amino acids have to be perfectly arranged in a long chain in an exact order to make a functioning protein [2]. (See my Proof for God #74 Proteins [3].)

The really simple proteins are made up of 300 amino acids in a precise order. Once the long chain is created, then it folds over and over again on itself in another exact pattern. Then proteins interact with other proteins.

So the number of possible arrangements for the very simplest protein are 20³⁰⁰. In a human being the average functional protein has about 450 amino acids, again in a very precise order. That would be one out of 20⁴⁵⁰ random possibilities. That’s the average human protein, but the number of amino acids in a single protein can go as high as 34,350 according to one source.[4][5]

The human body contains approximately 100,000 different, unique proteins [6] but there are estimates up to 2 million [7]. Every different protein has a precise arrangement of the 20 amino acids.

By the definition of impossible that I have established, even one single protein is impossible to occur randomly. But we know there are 100,000 or more different proteins in the human body.

Sample protein arrangements

The most abundant life source on earth, blue-green algae, is also one of the simplest. However, as simple as it is, it still requires about 2,000 genes that each produce different proteins [8]. Any single protein is impossible by randomness and blue-green algae requires 2,000 proteins.

Life is not an accident. The simplest life form could not have occurred randomly. We have shown that it is impossible. We have shown it is orders of magnitude more impossible than 1,000 heads in a row by flipping coins.

There must be God.

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[1] Amino Acid article in Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amino_acid

[2] Protein article in Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein

[3] Stephens, Jim, Proof for God #74 Proteins, http://101proofsforgod.blogspot.com/2014/12/74-proteins.html

[4] Proteins, http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/P/Proteins.html

[5] Another source said 26,926. http://www.wisegeek.org/how-many-proteins-exist.htm

[6] Proteins, http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/organic/protein.html

[7] How Many Proteins Exist, http://www.wisegeek.org/how-many-proteins-exist.htm

[8] Ell, Douglas, Counting To God, AttitudeMedia, 2014, page 106.

#80 Four Fundamental Forces

Scientists say that in the whole vast universe that there are exactly four types of forces. Yes, only four. Pretty amazing since the universe is so unimaginably huge. Over 13.7 billion years old and estimated to be at least 156 billion light years across (NASA says no one knows), and all that running on only 4 forces.

This discussion will examine these forces and argue that they must have all had their origin BEFORE the universe began and OUTSIDE OF the universe. Therefore, this discussion will attempt to show that there must be God because these forces exist and came from some source greater than the universe.

The four types of forces are (1) gravity, (2) electromagnetic forces, and two forces inside of atoms, (3) the strong nuclear force and (4) the weak nuclear force. [1]

                                                 Chart of the forces. [2]

Gravity you are familiar with. It holds everything together. There is no known limit to how far it reaches. How much you weigh is a measure of the force of gravity between the earth and your body. The strength of gravity between the Earth and Moon is estimated at 70 million trillion pounds. If you had to replace it with a long steel pole, you would have to get a pole that is 531 miles in diameter. Think about that! It’s hard to even imagine an invisible force that strong. Another amazing thing about gravity is that it is impossible to make a shield against it. Gravity is felt completely right through any known object.

Electromagnetic force is the force that exists between all particles with an electric charge. It is the basis for about every modern invention and convenience in life. It’s hard to think of anything we use that did not have electricity involved in its creation. Also the very energy that makes up your body and the nerve impulses that move everything, including your heart and brain are all electromagnetic.

The strong nuclear force holds everything together in the nucleus of atoms, the protons and neutrons. It dominates in nuclear reactions and decaying. Relatively speaking it is the strongest of all the forces, however, it only operates over a very short distance within atoms. The weak nuclear force is responsible for certain types of nuclear decay of particles.

Note the very, very precise differences in strength between the forces. If any of them were to vary by the tiniest of strengths, the whole universe would fall apart.

Let’s ask where did these four forces come from and when. Is the Theory of Evolution any help? Absolutely not. It doesn't even get a chance to apply until life has already started and gotten to the stage where it can successfully reproduce using DNA.

Did these four forces come about after the origin of the universe? Nope. Most scientists accept the “Big Bang” as the starting point of the universe. But without the four forces, there could be no universe. Therefore, the four forces had to exist before the universe when there was nothing. We could try to say they came about at the same instant as the universe exploded into being, but we still have to conclude that the four forces were “there” somehow BEFORE the explosion.

Gerald Schroeder, doctorate in physics from MIT, points out these facts in a video. [3]

Omnipresent is a word usually used in the theological context, as in God is omnipresent. Note that the four forces all could be said to be omnipresent. There is no known place in the universe where they don’t operate. They are absolutely everywhere, except possibly a vacuum where there are no particles, but even in a vacuum, gravity could still be there. The four forces are not physical or material, but they operate ON the physical.

All the four forces are also invisible. We can experience or see the effects of the forces but we cannot see the forces themselves. The universe contains time, space, and matter. The four forces are “outside” of time, space, and matter, which is very hard to comprehend since we are “inside”. They operate “on” or “over” the universe, but are not affected by the universe.

I could also make a case that the four forces are “all powerful.” No matter what you do, you cannot break or change the forces, go around the forces, or get outside of the forces. We are, in a way, “dominated” by the four forces. We are subjects to the Laws of Nature that exist. But that’s a good thing. Without them we’d be dead.

How about eternal? Are the four forces eternal? It’s more than likely that they are not going to change as long at the universe continues to exist and they’ve certainly been existing since before the universe. That’s about as eternal as you can get by definition. That’s a very god-like characteristic.

How about infinite? The strong and weak nuclear forces operate over very short distances. But scientists believe that gravity and electromagnetic forces are infinite.

God is often called “unchanging” or “immutable”. Are the four forces “unchanging?” BINGO.

We could even say that the four forces are “just” and “fair”. Everyone is treated equally. You cannot get any more fair than that.

I have been describing some of the laws of physics that are outside the realm of materialism and beyond the universe. I believe that you cannot explain these fundamental forces without resorting to there being a creative designer as the cause. The essence of all things is not within this material universe.

There must be God.

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[1] Science Notes: Fundamental Forces of Nature, http://environ.andrew.cmu.edu/m3/s3/06forces.shtml

[2] Hyperphysics, website hosted by Georgia State University, http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/forces/funfor.html

[3] Gerald Schroeder, Science Has Finally Proven that Scientifically, There is a God, http://www.israelvideonetwork.com/science-has-finally-proven-that-scientifically-there-is-a-god/

Gerald Schroeder holds a doctorate in physics from MIT and has been on staff at the Weizmann Institute of Science, the Volcani Research Institute, the Hebrew University. In this video he gives an incredible explanation on the existence of G-d based on the laws of physics and nature. It all makes sense. You just need to follow his train of thought.

#79 The Heart

Here is a major miracle that you experience every second of your life…your heart.

About 3 to 4 weeks after the sperm and egg united and got started to make you, there were a couple of blood vessels that suddenly started pulsing in a very regular beat. Those vessels grow together, enlarge, and twist around each other to form your heart in only about 2 weeks. A swirling pattern of muscles forms around a bulge which splits into the 4 chambers of the heart. It continues to beat about every second for the rest of your life.

In the womb, the heart is responsible for the very development of that fetus into you. 

The average heart is about 10 ounces and the size of a fist. Through an amazing process the electric pulses (red lines below) cause the top part of the heart to beat first, followed by the lower part. 

It beats an average of 72 times a minute. It beats 1,000 times in 14 minutes. It beats 10,000 times every 2.3 hours. It beats 103,680 times a day, every day, your whole life. It beats a million times in less than 10 days. That’s a pretty amazing muscle.

The average heart pumps about 2.4 ounces of blood (.073 liters) each heartbeat. It pumps about 1.3 gallons of blood (5 liters) per minute. That is 1,900 gallons a day (7,200 liters). That would fill an Olympic sized swimming pool in a year. It would fill a couple super size oil tankers in your lifetime.

All the veins in your body are dumping blood into your heart which sends it to the lungs to pick up oxygen before sending it back out through arteries to capillaries and every cell of your body. The blood takes nourishment to your cells and withdraws waste products. There are 60,000 miles of blood vessels in your body. End to end they would reach around the world at the Equator 2.5 times.

That’s not all. That’s just the very basics. Modern research is learning a lot more about the heart.

For example, there is more information being carried by your nervous system from your heart up to your brain than from the brain down to the heart. Some research is even showing your heart perceives things milliseconds before your brain does.

The energy field of the heart can actually now be measured up to 8 feet away from your body. Other people are constantly picking up on that energy intuitively and being affected by it. We influence each other on an invisible energy level. Our hearts to a much larger extent than we realize effect our emotions, our physical bodies, our relationships, and our health. [1]

"The heart generates the largest electromagnetic field in the body. The electrical field as measured in an electrocardiogram (ECG) is about 60 times greater in amplitude than the brain waves recorded in an electroencephalogram (EEG). The magnetic component of the heart’s field… is around 5,000 times stronger than that produced by the brain"[2]

Although our hearts are nearly autonomous, there are still nerves that run from our brain to the heart that can speed it up or slow it down according to what is going on in our consciousness. Is that really a lucky accident?

When people get a new heart through a heart transplant, they find themselves with habits and memories from the previous owner of the heart. Research is showing that there are sections of memory cells in the heart exactly like the memory cells in the brain.

If you believe that all of this came about by accident through mutations and natural selection over many, many generations, how did it happen? Did the beating start first in some random muscles and then many generations later a heart accidentally formed? Or did the heart accidentally form and then some generations later it started beating accidentally in exactly the pattern necessary to push the blood in the right directions. 

When did the valves and the chambers inside the heart form? Even if the heart was beating and pushing blood in the right directions, where did it push the blood before the arteries, veins, and capillaries were accidentally mutated into place which must have taken many generations? 

Blood is made in the marrow of our bones. When did blood accidentally start being produced? How did the hemoglobin cells that carry oxygen evolve over many generations? Toxins are cleaned from the blood by the liver. Food and water are inserted into the blood stream by the intestines to be sent to every cell of the body. When did the lungs get accidentally connected to the heart arteries so they could start supplying oxygen that the cells needed (before they all died)?

I’m having an impossible time seeing how small changes over many generations could accidentally put all these complicated systems into place. Oxygen, food, and water are essential for life to exist from the very first cell and the systems need to be in place at the beginning of the very first organism. Waste products and CO₂  need to be removed in the very beginning. The very first human cannot live without all these systems in place right at the start. You can’t wait generations for them to develop by mutations one at a time.

All cultures have expressions like “from the bottom of my heart” and “follow your heart.” Our very existence is a miracle and at the center of it all is the biggest miracle of all, our heart. It is our constant, trusted and faithful companion. “Be true to your heart” because it is being true to you. It is symbolic of something much bigger than yourself. It is symbolic of your Creator and the essence of your creation.

It’s not in your brain, it’s in your heart where you will find that there must be God. 

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[1] McCraty, Rollin, Ph.D., The Energetic Heart: Bioelectromagnetic Interactions Within and Between People, 2003, Institute of HeartMath, http://www.heartmath.org

[2] McCraty, Rollin, Ph.D., The Energetic Heart: Bioelectromagnetic Interactions Within and Between People, 2003, Institute of HeartMath, http://www.heartmath.org