- Feb 18, 2002
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Here's an interesting mind game. Does God know the outcome of a true random number generator that generates random numbers between 1 and 10? If so, is it truly a random number generator? If not, is God truly omniscient?
If it's a true random number generator then it seems, at first glance, that the most anyone could say is that the probability of any outcome is 1/10. If it is truly random, then the outcome of the generation is not a function of anything in the past, meaning that given the maximal amount of information about the universe available to anyone, you would not be able to predict exactly what the number generated would be; all you could say is that based on the constraints of the system there is a 10% chance of it being any particular number betwen 1 and 10. If this is the case, then how can God, or anyone else, KNOW the exact outcome?
Maybe there are a few possible solutions. First, perhaps there is no such thing as a true random number generator. Perhaps such a thing is not logically possible given Divine Omniscience. What appears to be random to us, may be predetermined in some way by God's Divine Freedom, but given our limited capacities, we are only capable of observing within our limited frame of reference where it appears to us to be random. In fact, there may be some prescedence for this in Proverbs 16:33:
The lot is cast into the lap,
But its every decision is from the LORD
Second, perhaps there is a limitation to our knowledge since we only operate with 4 dimensional spacetime. Given that God is not limited to our frame of reference, perhaps He knows the outcome of the random generator because He is already observing the outcome and we are not yet observing it. Perhaps God is observing every moment simultaneously and so knows all while we are limited to observing from moment to moment. God knows the outcome of the random number generator because there is never some time where God is not observing before the generator generates or when God is not observing the outcome.
Thirdly, perhaps omniscience should be defined in much the same way that omnipotence commonly is. Omnipotence is said, by some, to mean that God has the power to do all that it is logically possible to do (ie, creating square circles and married bachelors is logically impossible and so not entailed in omnipotence). Perhaps then, omniscience in a similiar manner should be defined as knowing all that it is logically possible to know. God can't know it's true that He doesn't exist or know that it's true that 2+2=7 since knowing such things is logically impossible. Maybe knowing the outcome of a random number generator is logically impossible.
Fourthly, maybe there is a modal logic solution where perhaps it truly is a random number generator and it is logically impossible to know the outcome of it in any one possible world. But perhaps omniscience entails knowing all possible worlds. Perhaps He knew before/beyond creation that He wanted the outcome of the number generator in the actual world (the one we live in) to be, say, 5. Perhaps He also knew that the number 5 would be generated randomly in 10% of all possible worlds that had the random number generator. Perhaps then with this knowledge in hand He chose to actualize/create/decree only among the 10% of the possible worlds where the number generator generated a 5. Hence, God knew the outcome, which actually was truly random (in other possible worlds the outcome was not 5), becuase He actualized one of the 10% of possible worlds in which the number 5 would be generated.
Perhaps the above solutions aren't necessarily mutually exclusive and it's some combination of them? Or perhaps God is chuckling about my thinking of His knowledge of random number generators and wants me to do something useful?
What do you think?
If it's a true random number generator then it seems, at first glance, that the most anyone could say is that the probability of any outcome is 1/10. If it is truly random, then the outcome of the generation is not a function of anything in the past, meaning that given the maximal amount of information about the universe available to anyone, you would not be able to predict exactly what the number generated would be; all you could say is that based on the constraints of the system there is a 10% chance of it being any particular number betwen 1 and 10. If this is the case, then how can God, or anyone else, KNOW the exact outcome?
Maybe there are a few possible solutions. First, perhaps there is no such thing as a true random number generator. Perhaps such a thing is not logically possible given Divine Omniscience. What appears to be random to us, may be predetermined in some way by God's Divine Freedom, but given our limited capacities, we are only capable of observing within our limited frame of reference where it appears to us to be random. In fact, there may be some prescedence for this in Proverbs 16:33:
The lot is cast into the lap,
But its every decision is from the LORD
Second, perhaps there is a limitation to our knowledge since we only operate with 4 dimensional spacetime. Given that God is not limited to our frame of reference, perhaps He knows the outcome of the random generator because He is already observing the outcome and we are not yet observing it. Perhaps God is observing every moment simultaneously and so knows all while we are limited to observing from moment to moment. God knows the outcome of the random number generator because there is never some time where God is not observing before the generator generates or when God is not observing the outcome.
Thirdly, perhaps omniscience should be defined in much the same way that omnipotence commonly is. Omnipotence is said, by some, to mean that God has the power to do all that it is logically possible to do (ie, creating square circles and married bachelors is logically impossible and so not entailed in omnipotence). Perhaps then, omniscience in a similiar manner should be defined as knowing all that it is logically possible to know. God can't know it's true that He doesn't exist or know that it's true that 2+2=7 since knowing such things is logically impossible. Maybe knowing the outcome of a random number generator is logically impossible.
Fourthly, maybe there is a modal logic solution where perhaps it truly is a random number generator and it is logically impossible to know the outcome of it in any one possible world. But perhaps omniscience entails knowing all possible worlds. Perhaps He knew before/beyond creation that He wanted the outcome of the number generator in the actual world (the one we live in) to be, say, 5. Perhaps He also knew that the number 5 would be generated randomly in 10% of all possible worlds that had the random number generator. Perhaps then with this knowledge in hand He chose to actualize/create/decree only among the 10% of the possible worlds where the number generator generated a 5. Hence, God knew the outcome, which actually was truly random (in other possible worlds the outcome was not 5), becuase He actualized one of the 10% of possible worlds in which the number 5 would be generated.
Perhaps the above solutions aren't necessarily mutually exclusive and it's some combination of them? Or perhaps God is chuckling about my thinking of His knowledge of random number generators and wants me to do something useful?
What do you think?
