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The Uncertainty Principle

kokiiekokiie
edited December 1969 in Random Issues
Hello Everybody!

So recently I came across a Physics theory called the uncertainty principle. In short, it states that the position and momentum of any particle cannot be known simultaneously without some uncertainty. This is because through observation we interfere with its state of motion at that point in time. This in turn has the 'outcome' that all particles move randomly in space without cause. (Note: this is according to the study of quantum physics, hence in only applies to very small particles).

Scientists use this as proof that God doesn't exist! Since these particles move randomly, then the universe must have come about by chance - also, if God exists, and He causes all things why would He do things randomly?

Personally, I think that scientists over history have jumped to all sorts of funny conclusions because they were missing information, or because they didn't have a means of accurate measurement. Einstein said that we must be missing some information, I think he might be right. :)

Does the church have a stance on this phenomenon? Has anyone come across it in the Coptic Church?
Any personal views on the subject?

Thanks in Advance!
Keep me in your prayers!!

Comments

  • TITLTITL
    I haven't taken physics yet, but maybe that's why it's called a "theory" and not a "law" ;)

    They are uncertain about the uncertainty principle. Maybe that's how it got it's name?  :P
  • epchois_nai_nanepchois_nai_nan
    LOL - Heisenberg, who developed the uncertainty principle, was a Christian.

    There's nothing about the uncertainty principle that suggests God doesn't exist, unless you believe that God consciously and actively CAUSES everything that happens in the universe to happen. We believe that He WILLS all things to happen, but doesn't CAUSE them. Just like God created us with free will, and then let our free will operate independently, natural forces all operate independently of God's causal interference. When He DOES interfere, we call it a miracle. Miracles are only SUPER-natural, because they violate NATURAL laws, which would do what we expect UNLESS God intervenes. Quantum randomness can be viewed as an extension of that concept. Quantum particles move randomly unless God supernaturally interferes with them - this is just the way the universe works.

    Have you heard the term 'quantum weirdness'? Its what people (even serious scientists) use to refer to the downright weird and counter-intuitive things that seem to happen on a quantum level: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=new-quantum-weirdness Anyone making serious philosophical claims based on quantum physics with any certainty should probably be treated with some scepticism, purely because there is so much we don't know about quantum physics.

    God bless
  • kokiiekokiie
    I agree that God made the universe to operate independently, but that's kind of where the problem comes from. God created everything to have a cause.. and I don't think He made 'randomness' exist. Nothing is random, we only say things are random when we cannot explain the cause - however there is nothing in existence that is actually random in nature (unless you can think of something) except Heisenberg's principle - apparently.

    Quantum mechanics is very counter-intuitive - I suppose that's why it's weird. For example, this principle is the exact opposite of Newton's 1st law of motion. Honestly though, I don't understand how Heisenberg came to such a conclusion.

    Let us pray that God's amazing creation be further revealed to us in a way that glorifies Him and gathers His flock.

    Pleasee pray for me!
  • John_S2000John_S2000
    Physics is not my strongest area though it is a most fascinating field!

    Anyhow I discovered a big difference between the notion of randomness and the practical reality when I tried to write programs years ago. There is what's called pseudo randomness as opposed to true randomness. True randomness has no bounds and statistically it tends to lie in the area of infinite probabilities, a feat impossible to contain in a program or in any hardware.

    The notion of true random motion points to infinity and to a continuous source of energy: these by definition only God could create, control and sustain, while the notion of pseudo randomness is following some laws applied within a range (add also a fine tuning) that again only God could have established.

    The main logic of acknowledging God is the presence of such laws (with different complexity levels, some are rather unlikely to be fully understood or practically proven, they will remain theories) that interact together in an amazing equilibrium, and to our minds ranging from the "negligible" to the enormous or the endless infinite. On the human level many laws are still scientifically inaccurate or can only be applied within certain ranges. Just a few thoughts....

    GBU
  • sordoeht
    Well said,epchios_nai_nan,I think you explained the right answer in a very short and lucid manner,In addition to your explanation,God's majestic Creation is the creation of the universe,but after the Big-bang most of nature are subjected to evolve into randomness or without His interference and that's why many atheist scientists are deluded by thinking that everything is random even outside the universe too,which nobody haven't explored it yet.They have to be humble that we humans didn't explore anything physically outside the solar system,they swiftly make judgment to know things outside the Universe and The Christian God has always been claimed that He is outside the Grand universe,even though they know that the "Fine-tuning of the Universe" is a strong evidence for the existence of God,They try to trick people with their deceptive metaphysical religion, "Atheism",So if the small particles are moving randomly according to the uncertainty principle,It shouldn't bother us,because this small particles are moving inside His majestic Creation,the universe.

    John_s2000,On the contrary many laws of science are scientifically accurate,I can agree that some Hypothesis could be wrong,but most of the Scientific theories are amazingly accurate.
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