The Grand Design

by Stephen Hawking

Model-dependent realism applies not only to scientific models but also to the conscious and subconscious mental models we all create in order to interpret and understand the everyday world.

but that speed limit does not apply to the expansion of space itself.

That is, the fact of our being restricts the characteristics of the kind of environment in which we find ourselves.

our existence, while it might not require a particular value of some physical parameter, often is dependent on such parameters not varying too far from where we actually find them.

The strong anthropic principle suggests that the fact that we exist imposes constraints not just on our environment but on the possible form and content of the laws of nature themselves.