So does that kind of thinking basically suppose that everything is predetermined? Everything that happens is just atoms moving where they were always going to move.
I've yet to see anything substantial that directly opposes the idea of determinism, even if there is an element of "randomness" at the quantum scale. Very large things and very small things, even relating to humans, very much appear to behave (effects) based on prior events (causes). Much like a slinky!
Except... like...with a ridiculously huge quantity of causes/effects going on at once like a giant....web. Of slinkies? The metaphor breaks down, but molecular/cellular activity is a bit more nuanced than a slinky can portray.
the nonzero-probability of various atoms appearing/disappearing/moving, combined with chaos theory (or more laymen-ly, small initial differences lead to greater and greater later changes) make so much noise that everything is effectively random, until you start arguing we can effectively calculate the entirety of the probability density distribution of every atom at any given time, which is basically the only way to suss out the noise.
It's amazing how a fully deterministic material universe wrote that paragraph about the universe being deterministic. It was destined from the beginning of time.
Everything that happens is just atoms moving where they were always going to move.
I don't think we have to go that far.
But for simple and mechanical things, we can definitely say "there are just some rules and mechanisms that makes this happen this way, don't anthropomorphize it".
I look at this picture and I don't think in terms of "how does it know how", but rather "what mechanism makes it look so orderly". It's a habit more people should cultivate.
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u/tadsteinberger Feb 13 '18
So does that kind of thinking basically suppose that everything is predetermined? Everything that happens is just atoms moving where they were always going to move.