Author: Bruce Gordon

^{Type
post

Author
Bruce Gordon

Date
June 26, 2026

Categories
Cosmology
Physics
Tagged
, aeons, assumptions, Bars-Steinhardt-Turok model, black holes, Boltzmann brain, bouncing cosmologies, concentric low-variance circles, conformal cyclic cosmology, consciousness, cosmic microwave background, cyclic cosmologies, dark matter, de Sitter horizon entropy, disorder, Douglas Scott, Edward Tryon, entropy, erebon, fine-tuning, gravitational wave epoch, Hawking radiation, intelligent cause, Mount Everest, Phil Halper, physicists, physics, Roger Penrose, Sean McDowell, Second Law of Thermodynamics, Stephen Hawking, Stephen Meyer, Tod equations, trilemma, universe, Weyl Curvature Hypothesis}

Fantasy in Conformal Cyclic Cosmology

_{Bruce Gordon
June 26, 2026

Cosmology, Physics

19}

Penrose was right, then, that fashion, faith, and fantasy have led much of modern cosmology astray. He was more right than he knew. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Bruce Gordon

Date
June 24, 2026

Categories
Cosmology
Physics
Scientific Reasoning
Tagged
, Aeon, Baylor University, bouncing cosmologies, conformal cyclic cosmology, Conservation of Information, Cumrun Vafa, cyclic cosmologies, dark energy, David Olive, Don Page, empirical record, erebonic field, erebons, eternal recurrence, faith, fantasy, fine-tuning, geometers, Gordon Kane, John Polkinghorne, John Roberts, John Roe, Krzysztof Meissner, Laurie Brown, Michael Denton, Michael Dickson, Northwestern University, Page curve, Paul Tod, Phil Halper, Phillip Johnson, physics, quantum theory, Return of the God Hypothesis, Richard Dalitz, Richard Dawkins, Roger Penrose, Sean McDowell, Simon Saunders, Stephen Meyer, The Nature of Nature, The Story of Everything, Weyl Curvature Hypothesis, William Dembski}

Fashion and Faith in Conformal Cyclic Cosmology

_{Bruce Gordon
June 24, 2026

Cosmology, Physics, Scientific Reasoning

24}

This brings us, at last, to the remaining “cyclic” proposal, that of Roger Penrose, which is perhaps the most quixotic of all. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Bruce Gordon

Date
May 28, 2026

Categories
Cosmology
Physics
Scientific Reasoning
Tagged
, Abhay Ashtekar, Aron Wall, beginning, Big Bang, Borde-Guth-Vilenkin, bounce, conformal cyclic cosmology, cosmic aeons, cosmic inflation, cosmology, cyclic cosmologies, entropy, flatness problem, geodesics, gravity, horizon problem, Kinney-Stein proof, Kinney-Stein result, loop quantum cosmology, Martin Bojowald, mechanism, Mithani-Vilenkin instability, Mithani-Vilenkin instability proof, Penrose-Hawking singularity theorems, quantum effects, quantum singularity theorem, quantum-geometric bounce, Roger Penrose, Second Law of Thermodynamics, singularity theorems, Tolman entropy problem, universe}

Past-Eternal Loop Quantum Cosmology Gets the Bounce

_{Bruce Gordon
May 28, 2026

Cosmology, Physics, Scientific Reasoning

15}

Oscillating universes have been discussed in philosophy from time immemorial and in mathematical cosmology for over one hundred years. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Bruce Gordon

Date
May 26, 2026

Categories
Cosmology
Physics
Tagged
, abductive reasoning, Alexander Vilenkin, Anthony Aguirre, Aron Wall, Audrey Mithani, Big Bang, Borde-Guth-Vilenkin theorem, bounce-free cyclic model, causal horizon, conformal cyclic cosmology, conformal frame, cosmic beginning, cosmology, cyclic bounce model, David Klinghoffer, deductive logic, Emma Chapman, entropy, Generalized Second Law, geodesic, Itzhak Bars, Justin Brierley, naturalism, Neil Turok, Paul Steinhardt, Phil Halper, philosophy, Return of the God Hypothesis, Richard Tolman, Roger Penrose, spacetime, Stephen Hawking, Stephen Meyer, Steven Gratton, The Story of Everything, universe, Wall Street Journal}

On the BGV Theorem and Eternal Cyclic Cosmology

_{Bruce Gordon
May 26, 2026

Cosmology, Physics

35}

The beginning of the universe doesn’t need to be singular, so doubts about a singularity don’t need to translate into doubts about a beginning. Read More ›

Two dice bouncing with sparks. Concept for probability and random choice. Casino gambling and gaming.

^{Type
post

Author
Bruce Gordon

Date
May 19, 2026

Categories
Fine-tuning
Intelligent Design
Physics
Tagged
, Anthony Aguirre, Battle of the Big Bang, beans, Caltech, Christopher Hitchcock, cosmos, Daniel Díaz-Pachón, debates, dice, dimensional analysis, fine-tuning, Frank Wilczek, Fred Adams, general relativity, intelligent design, Justin Brierley, Luke Barnes, Martin Rees, Max Tegmark, normalizability, Ola Hössjer, parameter space, Phil Halper, physics, Planck scale, posterior probability, prior probability, probability, Robert Marks, Robin Collins, Standard Model, Stephen Meyer, theism}

Halper and Meyer on Inscrutable Dice and Cosmological Fine-Tuning

_{Bruce Gordon
May 19, 2026

Fine-tuning, Intelligent Design, Physics

15}

Phil Halper has argued against a position that no one holds, and his argument as a whole lays claim to the very capacity his objection denies. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Bruce Gordon

Date
March 27, 2026

Categories
Fine-tuning
Philosophy
Physics
Tagged
, Alex O’Connor, background knowledge, Bayesian formalism, Bayesian reasoning, belief, Big Bang, calculus, conditionalization, cosmology, deductive logic, Dutch book arguments, fine-tuning, Fisherian hypothesis testing, inference to the best explanation, John Maynard Keynes, logic, Mercury, naturalism, Nevin Climenhaga, null distributions, philosophy, precession, probability, propositions, psychological states, rejection regions, Sean Carroll, Socrates, subjective interpretation, syllogism, The Fine-Tuning Argument and Its Cultured Despisers (series)}

The Objective Probability of the Fine-Tuning Evidence

_{Bruce Gordon
March 27, 2026

Fine-tuning, Philosophy, Physics

11}

Science and philosophy aim to explain aspects of the world and of our experience, and both offer judgments about what is correct or incorrect. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Bruce Gordon

Date
March 17, 2026

Categories
Cosmology
Faith & Science
Philosophy
Tagged
, Alex O’Connor, assumptions, background information, Bayes factor, Bayes’s theorem, Bayesian confirmation theory, Bayesian reasoning, Clark Glymour, confidence, denominators, Dutch book argument, epistemic probabilities, evidence, fine-tuning, fine-tuning argument, general relativity, General Theory of Relativity, hypothesis, likelihood, likelihood ratio, marginal probability, mental state, Mercury, naturalism, Nevin Climenhaga, normalization factor, panpsychism, pantheism, posterior probability, prior probability, probabilities, psychological states, Sean Carroll, subjectivism, subjectivist Bayesianism, The Fine-Tuning Argument and Its Cultured Despisers (series), theism, universe}

Bayesian Methodology and the Fine-Tuning Argument

_{Bruce Gordon
March 17, 2026

Cosmology, Faith & Science, Philosophy

17}

To use Clark Glymour’s example, Einstein's general theory of relativity explained the anomalous precession of Mercury's perihelion. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Bruce Gordon

Date
March 11, 2026

Categories
Cosmology
Physics
Tagged
, Alex O’Connor, Aristotelian cosmos, Copernican displacement, cosmic enormity, cosmic scale, cosmology, Dante, demotion, divine hiddenness, fine-tuning, fine-tuning argument, Hell, human centrality, intelligent cause, intelligibility, methodology, motivation, natural philosophy, naturalism, posteriors, priors, promotion, Psalms, Robert B. Stewart, Satan, scientific revolution, Scripture, Sean Carroll, Stephen Meyer, The Blackwell Companion to Christian Apologetics, The Fine-Tuning Argument and Its Cultured Despisers (series), theism, theology, Timothy McGrew, universe}

Sean Carroll and the Counter-Evidence Considered

_{Bruce Gordon
March 11, 2026

Cosmology, Physics

9}

My present concern is to articulate and confront Carroll's charge that the fine-tuning argument engages in some evidential shenanigans. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Bruce Gordon

Date
February 27, 2026

Categories
Cosmology
Physics
Tagged
, Alex O’Connor, Andrew Loke, Bayesian reasoning, Boltzmann brains, Borde-Guth-Vilenkin theorem, chemistry, Chris Smeenk, cosmology, fine-tuning, fine-tuning argument, Ian Hacking, Ken Olum, Kenny Boyce, loop quantum cosmology, Luke Barnes, naturalism, nuclear physics, Philip Swenson, philosophers, Porter Williams, quantum mechanics, Roger White, Sean Carroll, stellar structure, The Fine-Tuning Argument and Its Cultured Despisers (series), theism}

Fine-Tuning and the Infinite Multiverse

_{Bruce Gordon
February 27, 2026

Cosmology, Physics

10}

An endless multiverse is a context in which every outcome occurs infinitely many times, rendering calculations of probability ill-defined. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Bruce Gordon

Date
February 18, 2026

Categories
Cosmology
Intelligent Design
Physics
Tagged
, Alex O’Connor, Bayesian reasoning, cosmology, fine-tuning, Hans Halvorson, Humean probabilities, likelihood ratio, Luke Barnes, mathematicians, metaphysics, monotheistic tradition, multiverse, Ned Hall, Nevin Climenhaga, personal beliefs, philosophers, philosophy, plausibility, podcasters, Presbyterians, priors, probability, psychological states, Robin Collins, Sean Carroll, spacetime, subjective inclinations, The Fine-Tuning Argument and Its Cultured Despisers (series), theism, theology, theoretical physicists, Thomas Bayes}

Framing a Finely Tuned Response to a Chorus of Critical “Carrollers”

_{Bruce Gordon
February 18, 2026

Cosmology, Intelligent Design, Physics

10}

Using Sean Carroll’s criticisms of the fine-tuning argument as a general guide, I propose to address objections to that argument. Read More ›