1973: Australian theoretical astrophysicist Brandon? Carter put forward the term "anthropic principle" for the first time at the seminar commemorating the 500th anniversary of Copernicus' birth. The Copernican principle holds that human beings do not occupy any special position in the universe.
At that time, some scientists extended the Copernican principle to the universe, thinking that the universe should be exactly the same in statistical sense at any large scale and at any time. Carter opposes this view. He thinks: "Although our position is not necessarily in the center of the universe, it is inevitable that our position is special to some extent."
Two forms of the anthropic principle put forward by Carter;
Weak personification principle (WAP, Carter edition): "We must consider the fact that our position in the universe must be special, so as to be compatible with the fact that we exist as observers." Carter clearly pointed out that the "position" here refers not only to the position in space, but also to the position in time.
The principle of strong personification (SAP, Carter Edition): "The universe (and the basic parameters on which it depends) must allow the creatures as observers to exist in the universe at a certain stage. I think, so the world is like this. " The last sentence shows that "necessity" here is based on our existence, so this statement is a self-evident fact.
The "anthropic principle" shows that the significance of world existence is based on the basic premise of human existence. As an observer of the world, human beings give meaning to the world. So, why can people give meaning to the world?
This is because people not only have the ability to perceive the world, but more importantly, they have the ability to rationally think and analyze perceived things, classify, arrange and combine things, generalize and abstract them to form concepts, conduct experiments according to assumptions to find universal principles, and use existing experience combined with mathematical and logical tools to reveal secrets hidden in the world, thus giving meaning to the world.
The latter ability mentioned above comes from people's "self-consciousness", while the former ability comes from "instinctive consciousness" (maybe you can call it that). Generally speaking, all living things have more or less "instinctive consciousness", while only people have "self-consciousness", so as to carry out logical combination and logical analysis, explore world phenomena, and reveal the nature of the world or the development law of things. At the same time, people also use rationality to ask questions such as "Where do I come from", "Where am I going", "What should I do" and "What can I hope for" and seek answers through practice.
Therefore, it is people who give meaning to this world (including natural existence and human existence)! The development of people's "self-awareness" is how important it is for us to understand and transform the world!