Destiny and free-will (or karma) are considered to be opposites by many people. It is commonly believed that only one of these can hold in this world. Either we are all mere puppets controlled by an unseen hand, or we are totally free to do whatever we want.
There is an interesting parallel in the realm of physics. There is gravity which is described by totally deterministic equations and operates on the larger astronomical scale. And then there is quantum mechanics which is described by probabilistic equations and operates on the atomic scale. Though determinism and probability are seen to be opposites in physics too, scientists have so far not been able to combine the two disparate theories of gravity and quantum in a single framework.
The gravity of physics is similar to destiny. And quantum mechanics is similar to free-will. Ancient wisdom says that destiny and free-will are not opposites, but two sides of the same coin. One must exist for the other to exist. Probably, same is the case for physics. Deterministic theories and probabilistic descriptions are not opposites, but two sides of the same coin (like is well-known in the fields of nonlinear dynamics and chaos). I wonder how many years it will take for physicists to prove this conclusively. Never mind. Till then, we can all pretend that we know all about the future.
No comments:
Post a Comment