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Beyond anthropic dreams

from Man in the Mirror (2010) by Utopia Now

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about

This is a song about what is known as the “anthropic principle” or “anthropic cosmological principle”. It’s an approach (or actually a whole range of approaches, since there are many different versions of it) to the question of why the physical constants (a number of values in Physics that are believed to be the same all across the universe, for instance the mass of the proton) are the way they are. It is relatively well-established that the whole universe would be dramatically different (or possibly even non-existent) if any of these values were even slightly different from what they are. This leads many people to believe that there is a teleological path in the universe; that we as a species were meant to be; that some designer created the cosmos with intelligent life (a.k.a. us) in mind. This may be said to be one of the “stronger” (albeit certainly not strong) arguments in favor of a higher creative force in the universe. Alas, it has its own fundamental logical flaws and isn’t very convincing as has been shown many times.

lyrics

- Beyond anthropic dreams -

A magically fine-tuned machine,
a proud, anthropocentric dream,
an inverse deduction of causality,
an infantile logic refusing to see
the non-axiomatic nature of humanity.

The specter of contingency,
the horror invites fallacy,
the child runs in fear to save ego from harm,
awaiting protection in telos’ arms,
bewitched by an ancient, phylogenetic charm.

Chorus:
Behold the vastness of space,
the cosmic perspective in a mere amoeba’s gaze.
There’s grandeur beyond this sealed egocentric maze,
beyond anthropic dreams.

A truistic tautology,
postulated necessities.
Desperate attempts to avoid the idea
that nothing were lost if we weren’t here.
A child of a poor imagination and vain fear.

credits

from Man in the Mirror (2010), released June 25, 2010
Music and lyrics written, recorded, and performed by Stephan Serowy.

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Utopia Now Berlin, Germany

Utopia Now started out in 2006 but had been known under the name Indigo since 2002, sharing the stage with bands such as Lagwagon, Anti Flag, A Wilhelm Scream, No Trigger, Good Clean Fun, Venerea and many more. However, the band was short-lived and split in 2007. Today the band lives on in the form of an online solo project by the band’s founder, singer, and songwriter, Stephan Serowy. ... more

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