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The final anthropic principle (FAP) is defined by physicists John D. Barrow
John D. Barrow

John David Barrow Fellow of the Royal Society is an English physical cosmology, theoretical physics, and mathematician. He is currently Research Professor of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Cambridge....
 and Frank J. Tipler
Frank J. Tipler

Frank Jennings Tipler III is a mathematical physics and a professor in the departments of mathematics and physics at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana....
's 1986 book "The Anthropic Cosmological Principle" as a generalization of the anthropic principle
Anthropic principle

In physics and cosmology, the anthropic principle is the collective name for several ways of asserting that physical and chemistry theories, especially astrophysics and cosmology, need to take into account that there is life on Earth, and that one form of that life, Homo sapiens, has attained sapience....
 as follows:



Barrow and Tipler state that, although the FAP is a purely physical statement, the "validity of the FAP is the physical precondition for moral values to arise and so to continue to exist in the universe: no moral values of any sort can exist in a lifeless cosmology." Furthermore, the FAP seems to imply a melioristic
Meliorism

Meliorism is an idea in metaphysics thinking holding that progress is a real concept leading to an improvement of the world. It holds that humans can, through their interference with processes that would otherwise be natural, produce an outcome which is an improvement over the aforementioned natural one....
 cosmos (a tendency throughout nature toward improvement).

The FAP does not imply stability of the proton
Proton decay

In particle physics, proton decay is a Hypothesis form of radioactive decay in which the proton decays into lighter subatomic particles, usually a neutral pion and a positron....
: it is possible to process information using the quantum number
Quantum number

Quantum numbers describe values of conserved numbers in the dynamics of the quantum system. They often describe specifically the energies of electrons in atoms, but other possibilities include angular momentum, Spin etc....
 and spin state of positronium
Positronium

Positronium is a system consisting of an electron and its antimatter, a positron, bound together into an "exotic atom". The orbit of the two particles and the set of energy levels is similar to that of the hydrogen atom ....
 atoms (although the positronium half-life
Half-life

The half-life of a quantity whose value decreases with time is the interval required for the quantity to decay to half of its initial value. The concept originated in describing how long it takes atoms to undergo radioactive decay but also applies in a wide variety of other situations....
 of 100 nanoseconds would require other, more stable, particles to also exist).

Barrow and Tipler make a "very tentative prediction" that the FAP appears to imply that the Universe is either flat or closed (and not open; see topology of the universe).

Critics of the Final Anthropic Principle claim that its arguments violate the Copernican Principle
Copernican principle

In cosmology, the Copernican principle, named after Nicolaus Copernicus, states the Earth is not in a central, specially favoured position. More recently, the principle is generalised to the Theory of relativity concept that humans are not privileged observers of the universe....
, that it incorrectly applies the laws of probability
Probability

Probability, or wikt:chance, is a way of expressing knowledge or belief that an Event will occur or has occurred. In mathematics the concept has been given an exact meaning in probability theory, that is used extensively in such areas of study as mathematics, statistics, finance, gambling, science, and philosophy to draw conclusions about t...
, and that it is really a theology or metaphysics principle made to sound plausible to laypeople by using the esoteric language of physics.






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The final anthropic principle (FAP) is defined by physicists John D. Barrow
John D. Barrow

John David Barrow Fellow of the Royal Society is an English physical cosmology, theoretical physics, and mathematician. He is currently Research Professor of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Cambridge....
 and Frank J. Tipler
Frank J. Tipler

Frank Jennings Tipler III is a mathematical physics and a professor in the departments of mathematics and physics at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana....
's 1986 book "The Anthropic Cosmological Principle" as a generalization of the anthropic principle
Anthropic principle

In physics and cosmology, the anthropic principle is the collective name for several ways of asserting that physical and chemistry theories, especially astrophysics and cosmology, need to take into account that there is life on Earth, and that one form of that life, Homo sapiens, has attained sapience....
 as follows:

  • Final anthropic principle (FAP): Intelligent information-processing must come into existence in the Universe, and, once it comes into existence, will never die out.


Barrow and Tipler state that, although the FAP is a purely physical statement, the "validity of the FAP is the physical precondition for moral values to arise and so to continue to exist in the universe: no moral values of any sort can exist in a lifeless cosmology." Furthermore, the FAP seems to imply a melioristic
Meliorism

Meliorism is an idea in metaphysics thinking holding that progress is a real concept leading to an improvement of the world. It holds that humans can, through their interference with processes that would otherwise be natural, produce an outcome which is an improvement over the aforementioned natural one....
 cosmos (a tendency throughout nature toward improvement).

The FAP does not imply stability of the proton
Proton decay

In particle physics, proton decay is a Hypothesis form of radioactive decay in which the proton decays into lighter subatomic particles, usually a neutral pion and a positron....
: it is possible to process information using the quantum number
Quantum number

Quantum numbers describe values of conserved numbers in the dynamics of the quantum system. They often describe specifically the energies of electrons in atoms, but other possibilities include angular momentum, Spin etc....
 and spin state of positronium
Positronium

Positronium is a system consisting of an electron and its antimatter, a positron, bound together into an "exotic atom". The orbit of the two particles and the set of energy levels is similar to that of the hydrogen atom ....
 atoms (although the positronium half-life
Half-life

The half-life of a quantity whose value decreases with time is the interval required for the quantity to decay to half of its initial value. The concept originated in describing how long it takes atoms to undergo radioactive decay but also applies in a wide variety of other situations....
 of 100 nanoseconds would require other, more stable, particles to also exist).

Barrow and Tipler make a "very tentative prediction" that the FAP appears to imply that the Universe is either flat or closed (and not open; see topology of the universe).

Critics of the Final Anthropic Principle claim that its arguments violate the Copernican Principle
Copernican principle

In cosmology, the Copernican principle, named after Nicolaus Copernicus, states the Earth is not in a central, specially favoured position. More recently, the principle is generalised to the Theory of relativity concept that humans are not privileged observers of the universe....
, that it incorrectly applies the laws of probability
Probability

Probability, or wikt:chance, is a way of expressing knowledge or belief that an Event will occur or has occurred. In mathematics the concept has been given an exact meaning in probability theory, that is used extensively in such areas of study as mathematics, statistics, finance, gambling, science, and philosophy to draw conclusions about t...
, and that it is really a theology or metaphysics principle made to sound plausible to laypeople by using the esoteric language of physics. Martin Gardner
Martin Gardner

Martin Gardner is a popular American mathematics and science writer specializing in recreational mathematics, but with interests encompassing magic , pseudoscience, literature , philosophy, scientific skepticism, and religion....
 dubbed FAP the "completely ridiculous anthropic principle" (CRAP).