Lee Smolin

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Divine Fine-Tuning and the Evolution of Physical Laws

Introduction The relationship between the laws of physics and the conditions necessary for life is among the most profound mysteries in both science and theology. Physicists have long wrestled with the so-called “fine-tuning problem,” which highlights that even minute deviations in the fundamental constants could render the universe barren. Some interpret this precision as mere happenstance or the product of countless alternate universes—a multiverse; others envision an evolutionary process acting on cosmic laws themselves. Traditional Jewish sources offer yet another perspective, suggesting that G‑d created and destroyed multiple universes—each with distinct configurations—before settling on the life-supporting cosmos we inhabit. In this essay, we examine the fine-tuning problem alongside theories of evolving physical laws, as well as classical and mystical teachings on the Tabernacle (Mishkan) as a microcosm of creation. By exploring midrashic and [...]

By |2025-03-30T23:56:59-04:00March 30th, 2025|Bereishit, Bereshit, Cosmology, Creation, Exodus (Shemot), Genesis, Kabbalah, Metaphysics, Parshah, Pekudei, Pentateuch (Chumash), Philosophy, Physics, Shemot, Uncategorized|Comments Off on Divine Fine-Tuning and the Evolution of Physical Laws

Relational Space

Meditations on the Maaseh Merkavah – II This post is a sequel to my previous post, “Space – Between Future and Past.” For background information, the reader is referred to that post. My second Shavuot “epiphany” was that space is relational. Not that I realized that space was relational for the first time – I always thought so. But, for some reason, thinking about the meaning of the four faces of Chayot, the "living creatures" – the angelic beings described in the prophecy of Ezekiel that we read on Shavuot – made it absolutely clear in my mind. Isaac Newton The debate about the nature of space goes back at least to the times of Newton and Leibniz. Isaac Newton believed (as it is apparent from his mechanics and as it [...]

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