Question

How can anything be random? Surely everything happens as a result of something before it.

Answer 1

not everything..what about the big bang?

Answer 2

Okay, so why is it "impossible" to know when a radioactive elements nucleus will disintegrate. It must happen as a result of some sort of activity beforehand

Answer 3

no if it is so then determinism theory would have decided everything that's why probablity came..as you can see in hisenberg's principle ...so things can be random....

Answer 4

But you haven't explained why something should just happen, as opposed to not happening. Something must be a trigger, surely...

Answer 5

isn't that why we study science in the first place?? i mean if things were already predictable...then we would have been leading very monotonous lives..

Answer 6

neharika, the issue is that we are unable to predict these things. Just because we can't predict something it doesn't mean it can't be theoretically predictable. With things such as the big bang, they happened in the past, and while determinism may be able to control the future, it does little to help us discover the past. And yes, if randomness doesn't "exist", we are in effect leading monotonous lives, though fortunately mankind has been graced with universal ignorance, concealing our predetermined fate with a mask of free-will.

Answer 7

I am confused, since in my mind I am drawn to determinism, and am unable to accept the idea that something can be random, and take place irrespective of its predecessor. The internet suggests that quantum theory, which i have a basic grasp of, disproves determinism though I cannot understand this.

Answer 8

determinism is limited to classical mechanics...when it comes to quantum mechanics it is just probability that gives an idea of event ...okay as i stated earlier about the heisenberg's uncertainty principle it clearly states that we can't determine position and velocity of a particle simultaneously ...which is possible in classical mechanics ....one more example is population, mathematicians are not able to draw equation by using stochastic calculus so far because they can't predict how the population is expanding it is absolutely random ..similarly universe...so determinism can't help here...

Answer 9

Am I wrong in saying that although we can't determine the position and velocity of a particle simultaneously, it does possess both these at the same time. As humans, all we can do is use probabilities to predict the outcome of events, though in theory, despite it being impossible to record, at this moment in time every "particle" has its position and velocity and will interact with every other particle (the universe) to play out a sequence of events that although unknown, is inevitable to happen without some kind of influence from an external source, despite the universe being a closed system.

Answer 10

i guess your answer is self explanatory about the failure of determinism...also determinism and probability are two different things ..determinism can't ever decide future...

Answer 11

Please tell me how I have explained the failures of determinism. I can't understand how my answer doesn't justify it.