I came across this fascinating (for me at least) documentary called, “What we still don’t know.” This video includes contemporary Cosmologists, Theoretical Physicists, and Mathematicians all speculating on the mysteries of life that science has yet to explain.

The big ones.

The juicy ones.

The one’s that make your head hurt, and when seriously contemplated, make you feel slightly uneasy, anxious even, as though being spied upon, late at night, through a large back window.

The two main issues addressed in this video are, 1) how the world was created, which is covered in this entry and, 2) where do we go from here, which I’ll address in a future one.

This video takes a purely scientific point of view – hard, pragmatic, skeptical scientists, for which supreme beings are blasphomy to their sensibilities. While some of these characters are a bit eccentric, there aren’t any of the loony extraterrestrial-worshiping misfits that normally counterbalance, in a negative way, these theoretical explorations. Yet, this video elicits more mind stimulating theories than anything I’ve ever observed on the SciFi Channel. This video should open the most rational eye, and force the most sensible person to think, “You know what, this world is freaking strange.”

So, how was the world created? The big question is this: was the world created specifically for us, or are we just a random by-product of molecular fusion? The narrator explains that the more recent advancements in theoretical research suggest that the world was created by some form of intelligent design. This hypothesis coming as a result of highly sophisticated computer programs that simulate the conditions of our planet’s existence in relation to it’s universe. Because scientists know what elements construct our planet matter and atmosphere, they plug these qualities into a computer, then start screwing around with it. Their purpose is to figure out what other combinations of elements would result in the hospitable conditions required to sustain human life. What they’ve learned is that Earth’s specifications, in relation to the universe, are so precise, so “fine-tuned,” as to eliminate the possibility of random coincidence. In order for us humans to exist, the world basically has to have been created exactly like it was. The slightest, most infinitesimally minor tweak and we don’t survive. The problem is that this fine-tuning, requires, well, a fine-tuner.

There are actually three current theories to address this quandary.

1) A divine being: God. The Scientists, in this video at least, are still searching for a more “scientific” explanation, so they don’t spend much time exploring this theory. Or the documentary Producers figure that this theory has been sufficiently explored through other outlets. They’re probably right.

2) Our universe is one of an infinite number of other universes, therefore there are an infinite number of cosmic conditions, so it’s simply a matter of percentages that one universe should support human life. This theory, however, requires the same leap of “faith” of traditional religions. We are incapable of observing any universe other than ours, therefore have zero proof that would suggest that there are others, or how many, or whether or not they are different in any meaningful way.

3) We are a simulation created by a species of supreme intelligence. This species would not just be more advanced than us, they would be so intellectually superior that we could not fathom their intelligence. In this scenario, we are essentially a series of characters in a hyper-advanced version of The Sims. Basically, we exist in a alien computer.

So, right now, those are the three basic areas being explored. Any one of those explanations is apt to make one scoff, or say something like, “Don’t insult my intelligence with this nonsense.” But this is what our most intelligent minds have come up with. Personally, I embrace the weirdness of our world. Think of the possibilities these scenarios allow for.

Heaven, Hell, the Rapture.

Infinite universes = Infinite number of different species, some fundamentally opposite from us. Some fundamentally the same except for one essential difference, such as an inability to hate, or to love.

Alien simulation suggests that they can manipulate the settings whenever they want, creating an entirely new basis of reality at any time.

And these are real, scientifically based ideas, not just something you’ll find in a piece of speculative fiction.

Face it, our world is weird.

It’s time we all start believing in strange.