Over a century ago Max Planck presented his Quantum Theory which for the first time gave man an understanding of how things work on the atomic level. What was the most radical idea in the entire theory was that there was a randomness and not predictability to the universe. Thus it said that the universe was not order but disorder and to the degree that predictability was not possible. This created a great deal of debate because it was such a radical departure from Newtonian physics that until Planck was the guideline for physicists, but this was totally inadequate for predicting the motion and behavior of atomic particles which required Planck’s amendment to the realm of atomic physics. Decades later Werner Heisenberg proved Planck was correct and perfected the “uncertainty principle” as a platform for quantum mechanics.
What made quantum so hard to grasp and accept was this uncertainty. To encapsulate it I will provide some examples. For one, it says that on the one hand we can predict that a percentage of atoms will decay within a certain time period but we can not predict which particles in particular will decay or when. Quantum also says that particles can also be a wave which was so totally incomprehensible and counter intuitive at the time that nobody but Planck understood it. But in short the idea is that for instance a photon or light particle is at the same time a wave and this can be easily demonstrated. Let us say that a window is open with the sun shining through it. You draw the shade which has a pinhole in it. On the opposite wall the light will shine upon. Does the light appear as a pinpoint or as a wide patch of light? If photons were just particles and did not travel as waves then the light would be focused as a pinpoint, but the pattern is wide proving that photons travel as waves. This is further explained and understood by explaining that the patch of light on the wall surface is the place where many photons strike and they are spread out in a pattern. We can predict that some photons will fall within a certain percentage of the pattern and we can predict that some photons will strike at the center of the pattern while others will fall at the very edge of the pattern but we can not predict which photons will fall where. This again is part and parcel of the uncertainty principle.
It is a fact ever since the advent of quantum that what occurs on the atomic level is not predictable and why it works this way becomes a matter of chaos since we have no way of ever predicting what will happen within that sphere where we know the photons will strike. Thus atoms come and go unpredictably while their behavior patterns are just as chaotic. Let me add that Albert Einstein was one who continued to disbelieve in quantum purely because he could not accept that things were totally random on the atomic level. This was a mental block which prevented him from making any progress on his “Unified Field Theory” because in order to tackle that problem requires acceptance of the uncertainty principle, instead Einstein spent his years trying to work around this principle which of course is impossible unless he could find a way to manipulate the very laws of physics.

Pre-destiny and Determinism

Armed with this basic understanding of the principles of quantum let us move on to how it relates to humanity. Let us approach the subject of pre-destiny, determinism, free will, and how quantum may affect such concepts. Pre-destiny in Christian terms concerns the tenet that God has a plan for the Earth and all of its inhabitants. It further goes on to say that we are all part of this grand scheme of things and play our own roles. Most believe that this is planned down to the tiniest detail and we are all basically pawns in this plan with a determined outcome. There are many paradoxes within this which when asked why WWII happened, or what was the purpose of 9/11, or why do children die of leukemia, why is there evil in the world and many others, the usual response on Christian terms is that it is simply part of the plan which we can not hope to fathom. In a sense this is quantum-like in character and nature in that it too states that what goes on is not comprehensible to us. At the same time there are many Christians who will automatically read a divine plan into a specific historical incident.
There is a third alternative which I will work towards but first I must point out some undeniable truths about human behavior and the trait of “the need to believe” which is an inane human characteristic which most people aren’t even aware they have but practice it daily. Part of this ingrained quality is that people must try to make sense of everything which is part of the psychological requirement for us to “make sense” of the universe because it affords us a level of predictability which we think gives us a level of power over our destiny. This need is basic to our nature because we can’t accept that there is no predictability or “sense” to the universe because it removes any sense of control over our environment. Imagine if you can if man approached every day with the idea that there is no sense to anything, nothing we can do can affect anything, and there is no moral proposition that can be more provable or acceptable above and beyond any other. The result would be a total deflation of the human spirit and all human affairs would not proceed beyond getting out of bed in the morning.

Free Will and Morality

Let me return to the concept of free will. On religious terms there is supposed to be a divine plan wherein every microscopic aspect of the affairs of man have been planned by God and we are all unwitting players in this plan. So under this scenario free will does not exist. Any attempt at free will is just part of a predetermined set of circumstances and as such can not be a matter of free will but places us in the role of hand puppets. But let us examine the possibility that we are part of the chaotic quantum universe in which case free will is also a delusion or at best an illusion. If we are subject to the same laws that quantum describes then this chaotic universe must also be moving us around in unexplainable ways. I submit that in either case the concept of free will evaporates because if we are part of a grand divine scheme or if we are mere particles in motion within a quantum universe then there can not be such a thing as free will! There also can not be such a thing as moral truths or falsehoods because if all is pre-determined regardless if it is divinely directed or by purely random probability, then we can not ascribe any benevolent or malevolent human motivations to it anymore than we can find any moral outrage when as asteroid smashes a planet to atoms. Since it was either directed divinely as part of a Godly caprice or by a totally amoral natural phenomenon, it is morally neutral. Indeed, morality becomes irrelevant to the equation!
I now venture into observations I make about human events. We have all wondered why some of the nicest and selfless people die young or exist in very turbulent and miserable lives. This, while others are malicious and spend their waking hours seemingly for the purpose of poking their fingers into the eyes of everyone around them, and they manage to live to very advanced age while enjoying great bounty and love to remind the rest of us of that fact. Then there are all the other horrible facts of human existence that we contemplate and try to “make sense of” which we never do except to say that it’s “part of the grand plan”. I assert that this response is typical and predictable because by their very nature such basic injustices do not make sense in a moral universe unless we create the illusion that a higher power is using it for his greater plan.
In any situation wherein no sense or justice or moral purpose can be found then our only remaining recourse is to assign it to the unknown such as in the “it’s part of a big plan” explanation. Let me draw attention to these situations and add a few others before I move on to my next point. These hapless individuals who always do the right thing and remain miserable as well as those who always do the wrong thing and continue to be rewarded fly in the face of our moral idea of justice and fairness. There are others who are less visible but who are nonetheless present who I would refer to as “sad sacks”. These are the “old souls” who have always practiced conventional wisdom and done just as we are supposed to do but somehow never manage to do more than place one foot in front of the other. They become old before their time and broken individuals and fade away out of pure exhaustion. I am sure each of us can remember having known someone like this.
I propose that these types of individuals are the human equivalents and manifestations of quantum physics. By this I mean that just as in the earlier example of the ray or light entering through a pinhole and projecting upon a wall, some particles will hit the bulls eye, while the remainder will either come close to the bulls eye and still others will strike well outside the bulls eye and come to rest at the very periphery of the target area, people can also be compared to this phenomenon. There are people who do their worst and always manage to hit the bulls eye, there are others who never hit the bulls eye, while there are others who do their level best to hit the bulls eye but only find themselves on the short end of every endeavor they undertake regardless of how hard they try. I therefore submit that the laws of quantum mechanics are indeed applicable to human affairs on this level and that moral quandaries are as irrelevant as they are in the real of particle physics.

Randomness and Humanity as a Philosophy

This philosophy is totally amoral and places no meaning or importance on a hierarchical level of anything within the scope of human affairs simply because man has no free will or can make any choice that will change anything on a universal plane. It is also one that the human concept of self importance is demolished to its foundations. It would also mean an immediate discontinuity of all human affairs and endeavors and as such would predicate that human existence would necessarily come to an end purely because the reasons for continued human existence, ergo, that we can actually can do anything that matters or of value, is disintegrated and along with it any reason for humanity to continue.
The name I have assigned to this philosophy is “Random Determinism”. Prior to my writing my treatise on the subject, I consulted many sources for reference and comparison. It seems that Random Determinism is a term used by others but heretofore it is either to discuss mathematics and physics or spirituality and metaphysics. John Searle has delved into the subject but on a semantical level and form. But according to my research I may be the first to have merged quantum physics, philosophy and religion, morality, anthropology, and language into one cogent and codified form culminating in a comprehensive equation. I look forward to discussion and input.