Anthropic Reasoning Viewed Through Systemic Functional Linguistics

Penrose (2004: 1030):

Quite apart from the world of mentality having to be considered in conjunction with the other two worlds, in accordance with Fig. 34.1, there are several places in this book where the issue of consciousness has already played a significant role in physical theory, either implicitly or explicitly. 

One of these is in connection with the anthropic principle. Any universe that can ‘be observed’ must, as a logical necessity, be capable of supporting conscious mentality, since consciousness is precisely what plays the ultimate role of ‘observer’. This fundamental requirement could well provide constraints on the universe’s physical laws, or physical parameters, in order that conscious mentality can (and will) exist. 

Accordingly, the anthropic principle asserts that the universe that we, as conscious observers, actually do observe, must operate with laws and appropriate parameter values that are consistent with these constraints. Such constraints could manifest themselves in particular values for the fundamental (dimensionless) constants of Nature. Indeed, it has become quite commonplace to regard the values that we actually find as being the result of some kind of application of the anthropic principle.

Blogger Comments:

From the perspective of Systemic Functional Linguistic Theory, the anthropic principle confuses two types of cause, mistaking result for reason. Conscious observers are the result of material parameters, not the the reason for them.