Physicist Daniel Whiteson challenges the notion that all intelligent species would eventually uncover the same laws of nature. Do you agree?
One of the mightiest facts we’ve uncovered about the Universe is this: that no matter when we look at it, near or far, we observe and measure it playing by the same laws, rules, and being made of the same ingredients that we see here in our own backyard. It takes the Copernican principle — the notion that we, here on Earth, don’t occupy a special, privileged location — to the most general form imaginable. Copernicus famously recognized that the Earth wasn’t a privileged location, and was just an ordinary planet orbiting the Sun like Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn were. Similarly, our cosmic location, including our time after the Big Bang and place in the Local Group, have nothing “special” about them. It’s a generally accepted principle, and one that’s consistent with the full suite of observable evidence.
Over the past few hundred years, humans have advanced, both scientifically and technologically, in tremendous leaps and bounds. Scientifically, we’ve discovered the fundamental forces that govern the Universe, the full suite of particles that make up the Standard Model, and have…
