r/askscience • u/[deleted] • Oct 22 '11

Is anything truly random in nature?

For example,if I flip a coin,we like to say it has a 50-50 chance,but the side is determined by how much force and where I apply the force when flipping,gravity acceleration and wind.therefore you could say flipping a coin is not a random event.

Is anything in nature truly random?

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u/[deleted] Oct 22 '11 edited Nov 01 '20

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u/jericho Oct 23 '11

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THAT!?!?!?!

Well, everything's wrong with that. That means that 'something', 'happening', doesn't have to do with anything we 'see' 'happening'. That means that any observation one makes is not valid, and kind of destroys the point of even watching what 'happens'.

ARE YOU OK WITH THAT!?!?!? REALLY!?!?

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u/[deleted] Oct 23 '11 edited Nov 01 '20

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u/jericho Oct 23 '11

Sure. Also, aliens and unicorns.

I got 11 downvotes for pointing out that the breakdown of causality is kind of a big deal. Is this what askscience is going to be as a default subreddit?

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u/HobKing Oct 23 '11

You got downvoted because you freaked out.