Nature has been designed to perfection. Every little detail in our planet has a purpose and has been thoroughly worked out. The distance from the sun, the gravitational constant, the composition of the gases on our atmosphere, the list is never ending. Had anything been slightly different, life as we know it would not be able to exist. To some this wonderment increases their faith in the Creator, to others its just a series of lucky coincidences.

I was trying to think of how different our world would be if one was to change one minute insignificant detail. There are probably hundreds of examples but here’s the one I came up with. Imagine a world where the boiling point of water was different, higher than 100 degrees lets say. How would that change things? or would it all ? Think about it for a moment.

Here’s how I think our world would be effected. The first thing which comes to mind is the effect of this change on the water cycle. The first part of this cycle is water evaporating from the oceans and rising up to create clouds. However, a higher boiling point would mean that the energy we currently receive from the sun would not be sufficient to cause the water to evaporate and hence the cycle would be disrupted. Clouds woulds fail to form and that automatically leads to a multitude of problems. First, it would cease to rain. No rain will lead to droughts. Droughts mean no crops for the consumption for humans or animals. Animals will begin to first die out and humans would eventually follow suit. Life has we know it will come to end.

Thinking about this throws me off completely. A detail as small as the boiling point of a substance that we take for granted is essential for the survival of humans. Water indeed is a great blessing. I haven’t worked out the exact change required in the boiling temperature or the amount of energy we receive from the sun. Perhaps I have made a logical error and the effect might not be as dramatic. Needless to say, one cannot deny the profound effect this small change would have on our existence. Can you think of any other examples where an apparently insignificant change could lead to a dramatic effect?

“Behold! in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of Night and Day,― there are indeed Signs for those with understanding” (Quran 3:190)

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