determinism of universe

determinism of universe

The underlying assumptions and philosophical implications of classical physics are so familiar that you may have never given them a second thought. For example, classical physics ascribes to the universe an objective reality, an existence external to and independent of human observers. This assumption reassures us that when we do research in physics, we are studying what is actually "out there," beyond and distinct from our consciousness, and that we can design experiments that do not affect in any significant way the systems they measure. That is, in an objective universe we can control the interaction between the observer and the observed and, if clever enough, can make this interaction negligibly weak.

Our other central assumption about the nature of the classical universe is that it's predictable: knowing the initial conditions of the constituents of any system, however complicated, we can use Newton's Laws to predict its future. Precisely, without ambiguity or uncertainty. This notion is the essence of determinism, which, supported by Newtonian mechanics, dominated philosophical thinking until the advent of quantum theory. If the universe is determinate, then for every effect there must be a cause. After all, if all events, all phenomena can be predicted and explained precisely by physics, then it must be possible to backtrack from any event to find, somewhere in the dim recesses of history, its cause. We may have to look long and hard-the bird that just fell off a tree limb outside my window may have been influenced by an event during the Peloponnesian wars-but somewhere there is a cause. Or so says the principle of causality.

Causality was an important element of nineteenth century philosophy. It had important implications for physicists of that era, for it guaranteed the reproducibility of experiments-i.e., that two identical systems with the same initial conditions (i.e., in the same state) subject to the same measurement will yield identical results. Same causes: same effects. Very neat and tidy.

I suppose the deterministic world view implied by Newtonian mechanics could, even today, seem comforting, for it implies that the universe can be understood fully and dealt with rationally. But it has a dark side. For example, if the universe is ruled by causality, then free will is a meaningless concept, for the universe is a vast, mindless machine that controls our every action, our every decision. Everything that happens happens because of something that happened in the past, not because we chose to make it happen. According to this view, if you "decide" to get married or to take a job or to collect water buffalo, you do so not by choice but because of past events. In such a universe, our loves, hopes, and dreams are but delusions, hiding the grim reality that we are but cogs in Descartes' clockwork machine. Goals are irrelevant; human aspirations pointless.

Thus, determinism is a dehumanizing philosophy. It describes a universe that is infinitely predictable, holding few surprises. All can be known; nothing is unexpected.

Determinism is boring. It is also wrong.

The source:

Michael A. Morrison - Understanding Quantum Physics.

By. Fady Tarek