Who throws the dice for you?

[Heywood]

Where does God's randomness come from? How does he generate it?

If you ask a person to think of a random number, it turns out we're super bad at doing that. There's a lot of choice going into picking that "random" number. How is a being that supposedly can make prophesies supposed to generate randomness?

Who rolls the dice for God?

There is no point in asking that question until you ascertain if God's reality requires randomness. The existence of randomness in God's reality isn't necessary for Him to generate randomness in our world. Our reality requires randomness and it is fair and pertinent question to ask where it comes from.

[tor]

Where does God's randomness come from? How does he generate it?

If you ask a person to think of a random number, it turns out we're super bad at doing that. There's a lot of choice going into picking that "random" number. How is a being that supposedly can make prophesies supposed to generate randomness?

Who rolls the dice for God?

There is no point in asking that question until you ascertain if God's reality requires randomness. The existence of randomness in God's reality isn't necessary for Him to generate randomness in our world. Our reality requires randomness and it is fair and pertinent question to ask where it comes from.

So is god determined?

[Heywood]

It would seem then that randomness is really just a function of ignorance.

I'm not sure what's meant by a function of ignorance, I might give a nod to an expression of ignorance.

It means we our ignorant of the details of an event that causes a particular outcome. It means that randomness is not objective but subjective.

Suppose you are asked to draw a card from a deck of 52 cards. What is the probability you will draw the ace of spades? You compute 1 in 52. I on the other hand have knowledge that you do not. I happen to know that the deck contains 52 identical cards and they are all the ace of spades. I can compute the probability of you drawing the ace of spades....it is 1. When you do draw the ace of spades...you will chalk it up to happenstance.

Neither of our conclusions about the probability of you drawing an ace of spades or how the results came to be is necessarily wrong. We arrive at different but valid conclusions because you are ignorant of some details that I am not. What appears random to us may not appear random to an agent who has more knowledge then us.

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Who rolls the dice for God?

There is no point in asking that question until you ascertain if God's reality requires randomness. The existence of randomness in God's reality isn't necessary for Him to generate randomness in our world. Our reality requires randomness and it is fair and pertinent question to ask where it comes from.

So is god determined?

The question is not important to us. But if you insist that I answer I will oblige.

I don't know if God is determined or not.

[tor]

If you don't know if god is random or not why do you complain about quantum randomness?

[Rampant.A.I.]

If I roll dice, the out come of the roll is completely random to me. However If I looked at the dice roll in sufficient detail....noting the initial point of contact, velocity, angular momentum, coefficient of friction, etc. the outcome becomes predictable. It would seem then that randomness is really just a function of ignorance.

This LaPlacian view holds true until you get to the quantum level. At the quantum level events happen which physicists tell us are fundamentally random. Fundamentally random is a hard pill to swallow when randomness appears to be a function of ignorance.

So who or what is throwing the dice for you atheists?

Quantum mechanics states intrinsic probability, and an element of random chance, not a purely random universe.

In contrast to earlier views of physics which assumed unknown variables gave the appearance of randomness, but implied the future could be in effect predicted with all the variables.

You're applying an historic "common sense" view of physics to quantum level events, slapping an Unmoved Mover on it, and making spurious claims about the whole thing, when the confusion is a product of the mischaracterization of what quantum mechanics states.

If everything were truly innately random, probability wouldn't exist.

This thread is ridiculous.

[tor]

Quantum physics doesn't disprove determinism. All it's saying is that there are some things we can't know for sure. Like movement of quanta. In order to find it out you must affect it with photon.

[CapnAwesome]

Have you tried reading about it, before coming here to ask us?

That's just crazy talk, isn't it? Imagine all the trouble that it would save us.

[Heywood]

Quantum mechanics states intrinsic probability, and an element of random chance, not a purely random universe.

In contrast to earlier views of physics which assumed unknown variables gave the appearance of randomness, but implied the future could be in effect predicted with all the variables.

You're applying an historic "common sense" view of physics to quantum level events, slapping an Unmoved Mover on it, and making spurious claims about the whole thing, when the confusion is a product of the mischaracterization of what quantum mechanics states.

If everything were truly innately random, probability wouldn't exist.

This thread is ridiculous.

Negative Rampant

It is a perfectly valid question to ask from where the randomness we observe in quantum mechanics comes.

Claiming that such questions are ridiculous is like a fundie claiming it is ridiculous to question the bible. You owe it to yourself to do better than the fundie.

[RobbyPants]

It is a perfectly valid question to ask from where the randomness we observe in quantum mechanics comes.

And if we don't have the answer, then... God of the gaps?

[Wyrd of Gawd]

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How peculiar and paradoxical that you have inserted an appeal to ignorance, in a sentence talking about it.

Just the possible remark I can draw from that word salad.

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Negative Lastpoet.

When it is said that randomness is a function of ignorance, what is meant is that the variables responsible for a result are unknown to the observer of the "random" event.

Regardless of what the event is there is only a set number of possible outcomes. So in reality there is no such thing as a random event. A random event would be something like putting on your shoes and then ending up on the moon.