More thoughts on the nature of chance/choice.
After my last post, I've thought more about the questions I brought up. So I'd like to present some more things I've read up on since. I still don't completely understand, and I don't know if anyone does (and if someone does understand, would they be able to explain it?).
I realize there's a problem with my idea of predictability (Determinism) from my post yesterday: Quantum physics. Yea, all that itty-bitty crap that they can't unify with all the properties of the larger world we are familiar with. The uncertainty principle says that it's just impossible to measure particles with accuracy, therefore we can never know where that particle is headed. (Check out part 5 of Hour 1: the Quantum Cafe for a more fun-explanation )
There's even a Wikipedia article on Quantum Mechanics & Philosophy.
I won't try to explain much here. There are plenty who do a better job at that than I could, plus there are many books on the subjects if you're really interested. The general idea is; even knowing all of the beginning conditions of the universe still wouldn't allow us to predict the end result because of Quantum Chance.
This idea of an unpredictable universe on a Quantum level leads me to further believe in Free-Will of choice. If the universe is already splitting do to the odds of happenings on a Quantum Level, our own choices aren't in conflict with the universe. All options exist in the 5th dimension. A universe exists where every option ever expresses itself.
What does this all have to do with the idea of god? The way I see it, if all possibilities exist in parallel planes of existence, our universe can't be any more or less important, so this would seem to me to negate the idea of a god playing any kind of active roll in any universe, as all possibilities happen anyways.
But there is one thing that does make me wonder thou: if a tree falls in the woods, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? When does the actual quantum state stop being a linear combination of states that resemble different classical states and begin to have an unique classical description? If the state of being is only determined by observation, doesn't that mean the state of our universe is determined because someone is observing it?
I realize there's a problem with my idea of predictability (Determinism) from my post yesterday: Quantum physics. Yea, all that itty-bitty crap that they can't unify with all the properties of the larger world we are familiar with. The uncertainty principle says that it's just impossible to measure particles with accuracy, therefore we can never know where that particle is headed. (Check out part 5 of Hour 1: the Quantum Cafe for a more fun-explanation )
There's even a Wikipedia article on Quantum Mechanics & Philosophy.
I won't try to explain much here. There are plenty who do a better job at that than I could, plus there are many books on the subjects if you're really interested. The general idea is; even knowing all of the beginning conditions of the universe still wouldn't allow us to predict the end result because of Quantum Chance.
This idea of an unpredictable universe on a Quantum level leads me to further believe in Free-Will of choice. If the universe is already splitting do to the odds of happenings on a Quantum Level, our own choices aren't in conflict with the universe. All options exist in the 5th dimension. A universe exists where every option ever expresses itself.
What does this all have to do with the idea of god? The way I see it, if all possibilities exist in parallel planes of existence, our universe can't be any more or less important, so this would seem to me to negate the idea of a god playing any kind of active roll in any universe, as all possibilities happen anyways.
But there is one thing that does make me wonder thou: if a tree falls in the woods, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? When does the actual quantum state stop being a linear combination of states that resemble different classical states and begin to have an unique classical description? If the state of being is only determined by observation, doesn't that mean the state of our universe is determined because someone is observing it?
posted by new.atheist at 11:43 AM
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