I've always thought the question "why this universe?!" is a very ego-centric way to observe the Universe.

It's like getting into a conundrum about why the coin came up heads rather than tails or "Why these lottery numbers?! Why did *I* win the lottery? What's so special about me? What did I do to deserve this? Why did I get cancer and not someone else? Why am I me and not that guy over there? Why is am I in a Universe that can support my existence?"

I really can't understand how people can get stuck on a problem like this. I graduated from this when I was about 8... about the same time I realised there is no god.

I think maybe religion has a tendency to place the observer squarely at the centre of everything. God made the world, and everything in it FOR you, and everything has a PURPOSE, cats are FOR cuddles and trees are FOR shade, and if YOU do X, Y will happen to YOU. Even if you're not raised religiously I'm sure this kind of thinking has become fairly ingrained in society.

The Universe is not FOR you.