Title: Determinism: Examples and Definition | Philosophy Terms
Headings: Determinism
Determinism
I. Definition
II. Types of Determinism
III. Determinism versus Free Will
IV. Controversies about Determinism
Does quantum mechanics necessarily mean that the universe is non-deterministic?
V. Quotes about Determinism
Quote #1:
Quote #2:
VI. Determinism in Pop Culture
Example #1: The Matrix
Example #2: Minority Report
VII. The History of Determinism
Quiz

Content: And while quantum indeterminism, if true, may be relevant to human cognition, there are still alternative theories trying to put determinism back into the quantum. According to these ‘hidden variable theories,’ quantum events only appear random because we cannot see the hidden processes which determine them. However, at the present time, most physicists believe that hidden variable theories have been ruled out by experiments on ‘quantum entanglement’ which seem to show that any such hidden processes would need to operate faster than the speed of light. There are many more issues in this debate that we cannot present here. So, we shall only summarize, that quantum mechanics seems to prove that the world is only statistically, or probabilistically deterministic, and deeply random at the smallest scales, yet quantum mechanics itself is full of debates which might someday change that conclusion, and either way, it doesn’t seem to provide a basis for free will. V. Quotes about Determinism
Quote #1: “ The assumption of an absolute determinism is the essential foundation of every scientific enquiry. ” — Max Planck
In this quotation, Max Planck, one of quantum theory’s founders, ironically asserts that absolute determinism must be at the foundation of every scientific theory. Albert Einstein and many others have shared this view and refused to accept quantum indeterminism. They refuse because the possibility of scientific truth seems to depend on predictability;