A summary of facts from David Shiang’s famous book
GOD DOES NOT PLAY DICE
A) History of Modern Physics
1. CLASSICAL PHYSICS
After the renaissance scientists like Galileo & Copernicus, the next giant to come in the scientific arena was Isaac Newton. Newton discovered the laws of motion and science related to gross objects. He claimed that the world is inherently deterministic & predictable & if we apply certain parameters to physical laws, that which is to come can be determined too. He didn’t believe in the possibility of chance, randomness or unpredictability in events.
2. QUANTUM PHYSICS
Then came on the scene scientists like Einstein, Niel Bohr & Hiesenberg. After the Newton’s laws of motion, the next & probably the most path-breaking of discovery was that of the quantum laws functioning in the sub-atomic world. Vis-à-vis Classical physics, quantum mechanics claimed that everything in nature has an element of randomness & unpredictability.
3. THEORIES OF RELATIVITY
Lets take an example. There were two friends one of whom set to go on a voyage around the world in a satellite which would, say move at a speed faster than the speed of light ? Would you believe if I told you that according to the theory of relativity , at the completion of the journey, the age of this person who went for the voyage would be lesser than the age of his friend who never went on the journey ? This is one of the many inconceivable truths discovered by Einstein through his special & general theories of relativity.
B) Destiny vs Free will
One of the oldest & most classical existential debate that has ever existed in this world is that of fate vs free will.
Let us look at what science has to say :
a) The concept of pre-determinism :
Let me ask you a question. Can you make a difference to your past ? Could whatever happened in the past have happened otherwise ? It would be very easy to give a NO to this question. Since we are able to say at a future date ( for eg. tomorrow) that the past was pre-determined, then as a corollary all the events between now and that future date have already been pre-determined. This only means that our future too is pre-determined.
We may be able to think of alternative paths of action and make choices based upon a rational decision-making apparatus, but this doesn’t mean that we can affect the future. We however at least have the feeling of being free. Some may want to call this ‘free will’ but in the larger scheme of things even the choices we make out of the so-called free will are just events unfolding in a pre-determined universe.
Einstein once said : ‘ I do not believe in free will. Everything is pre-determined .. by forces over which we have no control. We all dance to a mysterious tune.’ This is bad news for all of those who egotistically feel that they shape their own destinies.
But just look at it this way. There are many advantages to not being in control, especially when it comes to concepts like regret, remorse & guilt. Much of our attention is spent second-guessing the past, but we can know with absolute certainty that nothing could have taken place in a different manner. This stunning recognition eliminates a lot of the anxiety and confusion that occupy our lives.
b) The concept of predictability :
Is it necessary that simply because the future is pre-determined it should also be predictable to physicists or anyone else ? Not necessarily, right ? Having irreducible human uncertainty about the future is what makes things interesting and keeps us guessing. We know that we cannot know what will happen but based on pre-determinism we realize that only one outcome is possible.
c) The concept of probability :
In any calculation of probability, there is an inherant hypothesis of ‘equal a priori possibilities’ i.e. the experimentor assumes that nature is indifferent and all the possible outcomes are equally likely.(i.e. on the toss of a coin, both heads and tails have an equal chance of showing in the next toss)
Let us now relate with what we saw as the concept of pre-determinism. As per the laws of pre-determinism, when a coin is tossed, one and only one pre-determined outcome shall show on the coin. If so, the probability of either between head & tail showing on the coin is ‘1’ and the probability of the other one is ‘0’. Hence the hypothesis of ‘equally likely’ events is skewed from the very beginning. Fair coins can yield unfair results. Nature is not indifferent.
It is no doubt true that over a period of many tosses of the coin, the no. of times that heads shows on the coin will be almost equal to the no.of times tails shows on the coin. But this probability calculation is that over a frequency and not the individual event. Hence the credibility of probability-based risk analysis, exit polling, economic forecasts etc when applied to the next possible event seriously comes into question.
Probability assumes that an outcome other than that which occurred could also have possibly occurred. In the context of pre-determinism, only the outcome which occurred could have occurred. The unquestioned postulate that some other outcome may also have occurred simply remains untestable because each event happens only once.
d) The concept of disorder & randomness :
By second law of thermodynamics, the amount of disorder in any system increases with time.
Let us now evaluate this in the context of pre-determinism & predictability.
Simply because the direction in which the system moves is unpredictable for us doesn’t mean that nature has become more disordered or more random.. Increasing ignorance on our part about the system cannot be equated with increasing disorder or increased randomness in the system. Our uncertainty is in no way evidence that nature is intrinsically haphazard. Nature is simply moving as per its script just that we have no idea what the script is.
If nature is predictable or pre-determined, then it is governed by law & order. But if nature is not predictable, then it doesn’t mean that it must be governed by chance.
Hence, in the context of pre-determinism, Einstein’s long-standing belief of an inherent law & order in nature is fulfilled.
