"The structure of classical mechanics implies that if you knew the position and velocity, not just of one particle, but of every particle in the universe, then the laws of physics would determine what happens next, at the next moment and the next moment, and infinitely far into the future, and for that matter, indefinitely far into the past. Now, this might bother you a little bit if you wanna think, well, wait a minute,"
"I'm a person, I'm a human being, I have the ability to make choices. I'm not determined by the laws of physics. And both scientists and philosophers thought about that. They still don't agree on what the right way to think about it is. I'm Sean Carroll. I'm a physicist and philosopher at Johns Hopkins University, host of the "Mindscape Podcast," and also author of a bunch of books. Most recently, "The Biggest Ideas in the Universe" series, including "Space, Time, and Motion""
Classical mechanics implies that complete knowledge of every particle's position and velocity determines the universe's entire past and future. Newtonian laws yield a deterministic evolution where each moment follows inevitably from the previous one. Laplace's thought experiment exemplifies a universe functioning like a machine, with every moment encoded in particle configurations. Determinism creates tension with the everyday sense of agency and choice. Philosophers and scientists offer differing responses about how to reconcile determinism with free will. The debate continues over whether determinism negates choice or whether alternative frameworks (e.g., probabilistic or quantum descriptions) restore indeterminacy.
Read at Big Think
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