Does true randomness exist in the universe?

Question

Are "random" quantum effects really random or is there an underlying order?

I suspect there is an underlying order that we cannot see and these effects just appear to be random.

I suspect that the observed randomness is not really what it appears to be, and we are not smart enough to figure it out yet.

JP: What about in a timeless universe? Every combination of matter would exist simultaneously and then it would only be a matter of which version our consciousness was in - maybe that part is random.

I think the hidden values problem has to do with info traveling faster than the speed of light, such as would be needed for the spooky action at a distance. Perhaps they don't need to go faster than light because the info travels through other dimensions.

salient2: Ever read Barbour? This was my issue with his timeless universe. Which version of the universe has your consciousness? Does that ever change and if so how? Wouldn't that require some kind of meta-time?

I'm sure all of the things I'm saying have been thought of before and analyzed.

Answer 1

I suspect nature is ultimately tautological mathematics.

I further believe virtual particles are real particles, but they are only partially correlated with our consciousness.

JP - It was Bell's theorem which proved hidden variables false, however only for the case where nature is single valued. Entanglement can be correlation in a multiverse without violating Bell's Theorem and without violating locality.

Randomness comes from not knowing which copy of ourselves we are.

Yes I have read all of Barbour's work including the original physics papers. Your consciousness is an observing multi-valued system which extremizes fisher information within the timeless multiverse. This in my opinion is what results in the illusion of time.

Answer 2

I understand why you're asking these questions here. Although I agree you'd get better answers in the science section, these questions SHOULD be posted here.

Somehow I just can't buy into the idea that everything boils down to something completely meaningless. If in the end, everything can be reduced to an equation, then there is a way to manipulate that equation in a meaningful way. So while I somewhat agree with Salient2, I can't say I agree altogether.

Answer 3

You are describing the hidden variables hypothesis posed by Einstein and others of that period.

I forget the exact test, but it was shown to be false.

Quantum randomness is entirely random.

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Meat:

A few months ago, I said something in response to a question about quantum mechanics. It is now relevant again:

What Heisenburg and Godel removed, Everett restored.

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salient2:

I defer to your greater knowledge in this, thank you for the correction.

[Don't you wish we could get the fundies to understand that concept? "I was wrong or didn't have all the details, yay, new information to play with?"]

Answer 4

Nope, truly random. 16 million plus dimensions arranged in a bi-lateral inverse synoptic manifold constantly undulating at various frequencies causing the appearance of false order.

Answer 5

I think there is randomness in the universe...but I cannot give a detailed answer.

Honestly, if you really want a thorough answer to this, you should ask this in the science section---preferably in physics. You'll get much more accurate and detailed answers there.

Answer 6

My understanding of sub atomic physics is limited but I believe it's accepted that genuinely random quantum events do occur.

Answer 7

i agree
try noticing synchronous events
chaos theory is an attempt to find the hidden order
i made up an acronym for CHAOS
complex
hidden
and
ordered
system

Answer 8

if it is not random ( what i hope ) than we dont have a free will either, everything is calcuable then.