[net.religion] Is it logical to make random decisions?

desj@brahms.BERKELEY.EDU (David desJardins) (03/29/86)

In article <768@hounx.UUCP> kort@hounx.UUCP (B.KORT) writes:
>...  In general, if someone is evidently following a nondeterministic
>(hence unpredictible) strategy, is it decidable whether the person is
>using a logical random strategy or merely behaving erratically?  It
>seems to me that it would be very difficult to decide the issue unless
>one had many repetitions of the play upon which to cumulate statistics.

   A related point is:  If God manipulates the universe by affecting
random events (QM wavefunction collapse), it is impossible to prove
that intervention is taking place.  In fact, it is not clear if there
is any distinction at all between intervention by an incomprehensible
God and "true" randomness.

   -- David desJardins