Determinism

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"All kingdoms have a law given"

Notes

There is a fairly never-ending debate between people who believe that the universe is fundamentally deterministic, and people who believe the universe is fundamentally non-deterministic. This debate takes place in physics, with some holding that the current statistical description of quantum mechanics reflects the fundamentally non-deterministic nature of the universe, while others (like myself) insist that there must be more fundamental laws to learn that, if we knew them, would allow us to formulate a more deterministic model. The leading debate in this regard surrounds something called the hidden variables theory.

There are similar philosophical and theological debates.

Many hold determinism to be a violation of free will, and either sacrifice a belief in determinism or free will as a consequence. I hold that determinism does not violate free will. (Which I discuss in more detail on the page for Free Will.)

I am an advocate of determinism.

God, on many occasions, has declared a certain knowledge of the future. This suggests, but does not make certain, determinism. Those with a knowledge of renormalization groups and chaos theory will know that a certain amount of predictability and order exists despite the apparent disorder in many chaotic systems.

Cross-References