Sorry about the delay in response, I'm still interested in the discussion.
You added a lot to discuss so this will take me some time to respond, bear with me if I repeat myself a bit.
I'll do small chunks instead of one grand response.
If we remove our present ideas about God and ask only if our universe required creativity -memory, forethought, modeling, purposeful intent, etc., it is much easier to consider the question scientifically.
Why does the Universe need have those things?
Isn't it an assumption based on what we think it needs?
Why does the Universe need a reason to be?
Do we NEED a reason to be or do we find a reason to be after being?
Was it your choice to be born a male or female?
Was it your choice to survive or die as an infant?
We exist BEFORE we have a reason to exist.
Why would we think the Universe is any different since we are part of that same Universe?
we can not simply assume present nature was not created -or that its course is not affected by decision at any time.
Assume is the only thing we can do. We don't have access to the whole of the Universe. However, what we do have access to is the whole of our own existence and our existence which is part of the Universe is dictated by cause an effect whether directed or not. It is therefore safe to assume, based on our own existence, the Universe also results in present reality from multiple conditions and intents.
First -if anything happened, we can know that things are inherently dynamic.
Second -if anything is in any way complex, it is composed of more simple components.
Second -if anything is in any way complex, it is composed of more simple components.
This defines the conditions of chaos and cause & effect.
Chaos and Cause & Effect can be random or generated by intent.
You can create a random cause and effect stream of events on purpose.
A new reality resulting from a directed event which affects random conditions in a timeline. As events move away from the source they affect reality in an unpredictable manner (chaos). The initial, directed change continues to create change as different things are affected.
We also have the tools of math and logic -the languages of reality -with which to reverse engineer reality to simplicity.
This is founded on the assumption that our concept of math and logic is universal. An assumption based on insufficient universal evidence. Human math and logic is only founded on human math and knowledge. The ratio of difference is 1:1. We would need to find and then be able to communicate with another intelligent life form in this Universe to break the 1:1 ratio to a 2:1 or 1:2 ratio. A a whole, what if intelligent life in this Universe were a 1:1 trillion against us? We don't know of another intelligent life form let alone all intelligent life forms in the Universe. Thus, all math and logic we understand is but an assumption, therefore, invalid. We assume its accurate because we make it accurate, not because it is actually accurate.
Take the speed of light as an example. According to our logic, nothing can exceed the speed of light but that is not true. Thought exceeds the speed of light. Imagination exceeds the speed of light. Imagination and thought exist in the Universe so it is real. It is however, not physical. But, neither is a force carrier wave. Neither is gravity or electromagnetism.
There may be a place in this Universe or another Universe where thought is physical, gravity is an elementary particle and thermodynamics is a substance. We can't know because we don't have access to the Whole of the Universe to know.
We would need to determine
Why do we NEED to determine anything? Perhaps the actual determination has already been made but we are not privy to the details because we don't need to know? Perhaps we exist in this Universe for a different function. Perhaps we are an insignificant momentary result of cause and effect of a far more grand reality than we could ever hope to understand during our short existence?
This would indicate life on this planet is but a condition of a bigger, more complex condition in the Universe and all our thought processes are significant only to us.
All human knowledge is less than 1 million years old in a Universe which is billions of years old. Individually, we exist merely 100 years or so. A lifetime feels like a long time to us but to the reality of the Universe it is a flash. How significant are we? How can our determinations be significant? Its all relative to the observer.
(Nothing can be made from "0" or multiple "0"s -but if there is just one other thing which is somehow different, more states are possible (not just 0&0, but also 1&1, 1&0, 0&1)
The concept of zero is a man-made construct of logic. Zero in math distorts the math.
Try to imagine a numbering system in which zero does not appear. (there may be a system but I am not a mathematician)
Imagine all numbers are 1-9. The only reason we count to 10 is because we have 10 digits on our hands and 10 digits on our feet. What would happen to math if we had 7 digits or 13 digits? Baseline ten would not exist. Each of the 13 digits would have a value of its own creating a different baseline.
Likewise, our time logic is based on Earth time. The second, minute, hour, day, year and light year are all based on time as humans experience it while being trapped on this planet. If we evolved on a different planet our concepts of time would be different. Our measurement therefore would be different. A light year is how far light travels in one year. On a different planet, with a different year, that specification changes.
So, if our math and our time is specific to our evolution, what else may be specific to our evolution?
We also experience selective existence thru ignorance. 2,000 years ago, atoms did not exist to us. They existed in reality but not in our logic patterns. Thru imagination, thought, observation and testing we 'learned' a reality relative to our ability to understand but we had no idea there were elementary component parts of those atoms.
We assume because two things can exist other things must exist. Assume but do not know.
In this Universe there are great voids between super galactic structures. We don't know if anything can exist in these voids. We can't detect anything so it is a null void. It is represented as zero in math but something could exist but we just may not be able to detect it. Dark Matter/Dark Energy is one example of a null which we reason to be something. In logic, that null has a value of zero but as soon as we assign it a value it becomes something.
In reality is is still nothing but we treat it as something. How we define it has little to do with reality and much more to do with inaccurate logic.
Granted, the whole Dark Energy/Dark Matter discussion is tangent from a multiverse discussion but it makes my point.
Our understanding of reality is an assumption because we don't have access to all the facts.
A created thing not possible by "nature" alone would have certain inherent characteristics.
How do we know what is possible by nature when we have a limited view?
How do we know what naturally occurring inherent characteristics exist in nature if nature is all of reality?
Humans have so little facts about nature, reality and the Universe everything we think we know is an assumption and most are not even very good assumptions. We are constantly revising the facts we thought we knew.
Our knowledge is limited but it is not useless. The fact we can use our knowledge for invention and innovation means at our scale and sphere of influence, our knowledge is accurate enough. But since there is innovation, revisions and ... "updates", our knowledge is far from complete. It is all curiosity driven.
Being part of the Universe, having curiosity, the Universe possesses curiosity. Trial and error is a component part of nature. The Universe full of failed stars, planet and moons. A Universe which is a product of conscious creation would not have failed anything after billions of years of building.
However, a Universe of cause and effect would.
The initial change of state which initiated the Universe may or may not have been a conscious decision by something. The resultant cause and effect could give is our present universal reality without further direction.
Star formation (consequently, everything related to star formation as well) is cyclic. Dust gathers by gravitation effects, it clumps together creating more and more gravity. This attracts more and more mass until it achieves enough mass to cause an atomic reaction. The reaction converts matter to new elements and over time grows larger and hotter till it dies. When it dies, some stars explode distributing those new elements of 'dust and gas' with then again pass thru the another birth, life, death cycle.
Random cause and effect. No set schedule, no specific location, no set duration. Not directed.