A “Laplace’s Demon” for the Age of Quantum Uncertainty

Paradoxes derived from the classic thought experiment shed light on fate, free will, and the fundamental structure of reality

I have always been fascinated by parables of fate and free will, because when done properly they are timeless. The “moral” of these stories is never some minor ethical quandary but a metaphysical truth which applies to all of us, always and forever.

In an ancient parable from the Babylonian Talmud, a man sees Death in a Baghdad market place. When death makes a “threatening gesture,” he takes off toward Samarra to escape. Death later confesses that she didn’t make a threatening gesture at all, but a jolt of surprise.

“I was astonished to see him in Baghdad,” she says. “Because I have an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.”

The moral found here in “The Appointment in Samarra” — as well as in Oedipus Rex, 12 Monkeys, and a myriad of other stories throughout history —is that fate always wins. It is, by definition, inevitable. Our efforts to avoid what has been predestined only bring us more assuredly towards the same end we aim to avert.

Predestination further entrenched itself in our philosophy as the Enlightenment and the advent of modern…