This so-called <i>fascination</i> and search for meaning or reason behind constants reminds of the anthropic principle [0], which basically goes like this: &quot;things are the way they are because we wouldn&#x27;t be here to observe them otherwise&quot;.<p>The last part of the article, however, is still quite intriguing. Nobody would expect any of the 3 components of alpha to change, unless somehow the measurements can be affected by the medium (as the speed of light depends on that).<p>[0]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Anthropic_principle" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Anthropic_principle</a>