[ExI] Is quantum mechanics is deterministic or stochastic?

[Adrian Tymes]

The defenders of quantum randomness make much about knocking down strawman
after strawman of limited hidden-variables.

They don't seem to be making any headway against superdeterminism: the idea
that all the variables are determined in advance.

There are those who dismiss superdeterminism, claiming it is "obviously"
incompatible with free will, which we observe that we have.  But there are
ways to have both (for instance: the variables are predetermined now, but
that which made the decisions - that which determined the variables - is
our free will).

On Wed, Nov 17, 2021 at 8:07 AM BillK via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

> In Giulio's current discussion, John Clark claimed "the quantum wave
> function is completely deterministic but, because we can only observe
> a very small part of it, things seem random to us, so we must resort
> to probability in our predictions."
> -------------
>
> This claim is much disputed by quantum theorists. Every experiment has
> supported the randomness of quantum mechanics. While emotionally
> appealing (e.g. Einstein), the search for support of 'hidden-variables
> theory' has so far failed.
>
> Bell's theorem would appear to prove many hidden-variable theories to
> be impossible.
> See: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hidden-variable_theory>
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpretations_of_quantum_mechanics>
>
> Ethan Siegel has a recent article on this very subject.
> <https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/quantum-spookiness/>
>
> Quotes:
> STARTS WITH A BANG — NOVEMBER 16, 2021
>
> How the best alternative to “quantum spookiness” failed
>
> Many still cling to the idea that we live in a deterministic Universe,
> despite the nature of quantum physics. Now, the "least spooky"
> interpretation no longer works.
> The idea that two quanta could be instantaneously entangled with one
> another, even across large distances, is often talked about as the
> spookiest part of quantum physics. If reality were fundamentally
> deterministic and were governed by hidden variables, this spookiness
> could be removed. Unfortunately, attempts to do away with this type of
> quantum weirdness have all failed.
>
> KEY TAKEAWAYS
> Until the discovery of radioactivity and quantum physics, every
> particle and interaction was thought to obey completely deterministic
> equations. Quantum mechanics can only yield an indeterminate
> probability distribution of outcomes. It cannot tell you what comes
> next. The leading deterministic interpretation, involving hidden
> variables, is called Bohmian mechanics. Its only distinct prediction
> was just falsified.
> -----------------
>
> Fascinating article!
>
> BillK
>
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