Does the uncertainty principle apply to probability?

Question

I'm having a hard time understanding probability. I always thought that probability doesn't really exist, it was just a idea we came up with. I've always thought that if we had a time machine and kept going back in time to observe a specific event it would end up playing out the same way every time

But now i had someone try and explain uncertainty to me and I’m confused.

Is there really such a thing as a random occurrence or is there only one possible way for every event in the universe to play out?

I'm looking for a physics based answer not a philosophical one. Thanks

Answer 1

There are two kinds of probability. One is uncertainty based on incomplete information, like guessing which hand a coin is being held in. Then there is intrinsic probability, like the odds of a radioactive atom decaying during a certain interval, where no amount of information about the current state of affairs could eliminate uncertainty. Before quantum mechanics, it was assumed that only the first kind existed and that the world was, in principle at least, deterministic. Quantum mechanics changed all that. It's probabilities are considered of the intrinsic kind.

Answer 2

No, I think the uncertainty principle illustrates the randomness while God is watching (interesting that many quantum physicists have become religious)..the fact that things are allowed to act with "free will".

Answer 3

Yes probability exists, and no, its not just an idea.

The uncertainty principle gives a probability (chance) (percentage) of what might happen. It only means that for a certain circumstance, it is either likely or unlikely or somewhere in between, to happen

Answer 4

if you go back in time you at the very least would move some atoms around that will effect one thing after another so no events will be the same.

probability is just a way to estimate the behavior of systems we can't measure completely, which is every system.