A Brief History of the Multiverse (NY Times registration required)

Scientists have long puzzled over this rather contrived state of affairs. Why is nature so ingeniously, one might even say suspiciously, friendly to life? What do the laws of physics care about life and consciousness that they should conspire to make a hospitable universe? It's almost as if a Grand Designer had it all figured out.

Paul Davies has always seemed to tempt the question of intelligent design and universe. The significance of his statements here is his acknowledgement of the necessity of faith on the part of the scientist to proceed with his scientific inquiry. Most people don't contemplate how much they really take by faith. So many things in life are taken a priori without the possibility of some rationalistic proof demonstrating it to be so. Neo in The Matrix lives a portion of his life believing something to be true which isn't...his entire environment. What a radical experience to have your world turned upside down once you've been shown the truth. Mr. Davies' discussion is just as radical. Either we live in a small component in a chanced multiverse or we were designed by a Creator with a purpose, only which He can reveal.