A new paper in Physical Review Letters from a group of physicists at Case Western Reserve University argues that any connection between the laws of physics and the existence of life is likely to be an illusion stemming from our shortsighted definition of intelligent life.

The paper implies that the anthropic claim that “we observe things the way they are because otherwise we wouldn’t be here to see them” should take a back seat to the search for fundamental explanations for why our physical laws must be the ones we have.