-
Do you believe the universe is deterministic?
I believe our most reliable information, which indicates that's more or less the case; quantum fluctuations are dozens and dozens of orders of magnitude below the macro level. Sure, the quantum fluctuations determined the shape of our universe, but everything had to be in one place for that... Not much influence since. And even if the odd quantum event could knock you from one set of rails to another, that doesn't help you make any actual choices.
It's quite the stretch if you want to believe in both physics and free will - the only way I can square it is by assuming the multiverse is true, and invoking something that answers to the concept of a soul, which somehow metaphysically gets to decide which universe it inhabits. Problem with that, is that it implies each of us is more fundamentally alone than I've ever seen anybody imagine - surrounded by philosophical zombies; shadows of their real (inhabited) selves, who are also horribly alone in their other universes.
Dunno if I fancy that
1 Attachment
-
Kimmo
-
Determinism and free-will are different things. I don't know enough to talk about free-will, but (in my humble opinion) I think it's fairly safe to say we live in a non-deterministic universe:
True randomness exists, in radioactive decay, but also due to Heisenberg's uncertainty principle (you can't know a particle's position and momentum with 100% accuracy). Couple that with the Butterfly Effect, and you've got yourself a universe with an unknowable future.
-
I believe our most reliable information, which indicates that's more or less the case; quantum fluctuations are dozens and dozens of orders of magnitude below the macro level. Sure, the quantum fluctuations determined the shape of our universe, but everything had to be in one place for that... Not much influence since.
Quantum events definitely have macro effects:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-event_upset#Notable_SEU
cyclotron3k
frankenbike
Do you believe the universe is deterministic?