Does Randomness Exist?

997GT3 · Post by **997GT3** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 1:03 pm

Even random, or pseudo-random rather, numbers generated by computers are calculated by an equation. Is there a such thing as randomness?

Aren't all things connected?

Wouldn't it be possible for an event on the other side of the world some 20 years ago and everything else (how we were raised; our past; our genes; our immunities; our environment; even the little molecules invisible to the naked eye; etc.) to affect our next actions and the way we see the world?

Does God know what we're going to do next by knowing all the variables to a huge equation and plugging them in? God even knows when we'll pray.

Is Free Will truly Free Will?

Free will is essential to Christianity in that we have to choose to accept Jesus Christ. Is it really "choosing"? Are some people pre-destined to accept Him on Earth and some later?

Please discuss.

Caligar · Post by **Caligar** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 7:53 pm

I have a question: Do "unpredictable" and "random" mean the same thing? If so its quite simple to disprove determinism.

McCulloch · Post by **McCulloch** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 9:32 pm

Caligar wrote:I have a question: Do "unpredictable" and "random" mean the same thing? If so its quite simple to disprove determinism.

No.
Chaos theory shows that some things can be unpredictable and determined. Random means being both unpredictable and undetermined. Chaos Theory: A Brief Introduction

Greatest I Am · Post by **Greatest I Am** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 3:14 am

You can have a disordere system within an ordered system, always remembering the unsurtanty principle. An example might be water in a close glass. It can be said that the glass is stable but the wter is not.

Regards

DL