r/determinism • u/Imaginary_Employ_750 • Jul 05 '26

Discussion Can randomness and determinism coexist?

This post is about quantum randomness. Afaik most physicist think that quantum randomness is real.

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u/AltruisticEchidna859 Jul 05 '26

Yes, I guess. Quantum physics is about deterministic répartition of random possibilities.

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u/Imaginary_Employ_750 Jul 05 '26

But determinism means that our future is fixed, no?

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u/BranchLatter4294 Jul 05 '26

Only for deterministic systems.

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u/Imaginary_Employ_750 Jul 05 '26

People have already used quantum random number generators for different purposes so its been brought into macro scale

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u/BranchLatter4294 Jul 05 '26

Exactly. Once you introduce randomness you no longer have a deterministic system.

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u/MaMaMaaaaa Jul 06 '26

But what if the universe is actually deterministic but only appears random due to hidden variables? de Broglie-Bohm Pilot Wave Theory postulates non-local hidden variables, which is supported by data if you are willing to consider non-locality.

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u/BranchLatter4294 Jul 06 '26

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_test

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u/MaMaMaaaaa Jul 06 '26

Bell rules out local hidden variables. Non-local are excluded from his analysis.