At Random

There is always randomness around us. This is not another usual random statement; there is enough evidence to support that argument.

Take physics for example. This is a good opportunity to refresh some fundamentals, especially after studying it only to clear the exams and then conveniently forgetting about it. Classical physics is deterministic.  Its processes can precisely determine the future position and velocity of a particle. If you kick somebody’s butt, you can precisely determine how much he will bend!

But then we have this quantum physics, which is full of random processes.  The outcomes of measurements of quantum particles are entirely by chance. We are not sure whether everything in this world is deterministic and we do not have knowledge on random things. Or whether everything happens at random. If at all you decide to kick somebody’s butt in this scenario, you are not sure what extend his body will move forward,  for that matter what extend your leg will pain. 

We tend to pick up things at random, especially when we do not have sufficient knowledge. I decided to buy sarees for my relatives when I was returning home during my first vacation in my first job. (I never did such a random mistake subsequently!). I straight away went to a shop, I had no clue as what would be good, I had no expertise. I just rotated that vertical stand and picked up the saree which stopped in front of me. I repeated the process by rotating it at different speeds and picked up one by one entirely by chance, applying my quantum theory fundas ! My confidence was based on the fact that how much ever bad the gift it would be, the recipient would only say nice things about that gift, at least in front me ! I was not wrong, though the sarees were of bad quality!!

I happened to attend a live band show sometime back.  There were many things in his front, on his left, on his right, hanging from top - in many shapes, made of different material – yes I am talking about the drummist who was the main attraction. To me he looked like a shopkeeper standing in an antique shop!  I got a feeling that those odd things were beaten at random with no rhythm, his hands, legs even eyes moved at random.  But, when I looked around and saw people applauding, reciprocating with similar facial expressions, then only I realised that problem was with me.  The drummist had a definitive scheme of things, which I could not understand!

Then we have these random checks. By cops. To find out whether we are drunk while driving. And many a times they will stop vehicles at random. One reason for that is to optimize their resources and time. But, if they start checking each and every vehicle, where is the motivation for us to take the chance of doing that heroic act of drink&drive and not getting caught?, to get that additional kick of not getting  penalized for a committed crime! What is the incentive for the cops to smell everybody around with no assured revenue for their survival ?, since you might hesitate to take a chance that does not exist at all!

Einstein believed that there should be some higher theory above quantum theory to explain these odd behaviors. Since then scientists have been trying hard doing random things to get answers, but with no luck till date. 

You may think that something is wrong with a person who behaves randomly. You have every reason to believe so, but then do not jump into that conclusion in all cases. There could be a chance of existence of higher theory for his random behavior which you are not aware of.