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Originally Posted by NotConvinced  Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick Treklis As interesting as it can be to speculate about how things could have been, it's even more interesting to know that the way things are has been infinitely determined. | How can you know that? |
Cause and effect. Everything is a the result of infinite causes stretching back endlessly into time. Now, although this means that everything is determined, it also makes any predictions we make inherently uncertain because of the infinite magnitude of the causal web of nature. At best all we can ever do is make an educated guess about what the future holds.
Og,
Quantum mechanics does not refute that all phenomena are deterministic. First off, quantum mechanics is a theory based on empirical observation making it inherently unreliable in an ultimate sense. All science can ever come up with are theories that can never be proved absolutely true. Quantum theory is just another in a long line of theories to come about certain aspects of nature. Even the quantum realm produces patterns that can be predicted and repeated. So even though scientists haven't been able to isolate specific causes for these events, the fact that these experiments are repeatable and demonstrable is enough for one to reasonably assume there are in fact causes, although unknown for the time being, to these events. Not to mention the fact that we can observe these events, isolate them, and make distinctions between "the quantum realm" and other realms absolutely means they are caused events and therefore entirely deterministic.