IMAO, the biggest philosophical problem of Quantum Mechanics is the “measurement problem”. According to Quantum Mechanics, “measurement”, or “observation”, collapses the wavefunction of a particle. Particles behave one way when we are looking, and a very different way as soon as we divert our gaze.
(For more background on the quantum measurement problem, see my blog post http://mccomplete.blogspot.de/2012/07/decoherence-and-flying-fish.html .)
It’s almost as if there are two worlds: the visible world and the hidden world.
I want to call attention to two differences between the visible world and the hidden world:
In the visible world, any given particle at any given time is in one, and only one, place. But in the hidden world, at any given time, any given particle can be in more than one place.
The behavior of the hidden world is almost absurd. If a particle is in two places at the same time, it shouldn’t be one particle anymore. It should be two particles. But it isn’t, it’s still only one.
In my arrogant opinion, this is a kind of miracle. In conventional miracles, isolated events defy the laws of nature. But in the quantum miracle, the laws of nature defy the laws of logic.
The hidden world is absurd and miraculous. The visible world, on the other hand, is coherent.
There are miracles happening constantly all around us, but we can’t see them. They’re hidden from us.
Now for the second difference between the visible world and the hidden world:
The hidden world is deterministic and the visible world is nondeterministic. The hidden world is entirely governed by natural law; the visible world is influenced probabilitsically by natural law, but it is, in a sense, chaotic, lawless. So the world behaves lawfully, but the lawfulness is hidden from us. When we look, all we see is lawlessness.
Maybe Divine Providence is like this. Maybe the world is lawful and just, but the lawfulness is hidden. Maybe behind the veil of coherence, good things happen to good people, but when we look, all we see is lawlessness, chance, indifference.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Shiluach Haken, Part 2: The Reward for Mitzvot
In the end of Masechet Chullin, the Gemara tells the tragic story of a father who told his young son to climb up a tree and get some eggs. The boy climbed up the tree, sent away the mother bird, lost his footing, and fell to his death.
The boy had performed two mitzvot: honoring his father, and sending away the mother bird. The Torah promises a long life as a reward for both mitzvot.
Elisha ben Abuya declared, “There is no justice and no Judge,” and went off the derech.
Rebbe Akiva declared, “There is no reward for mitzvot in this world, but in the next world, there is reward.”
On the other hand, every morning after the blessings of the Torah, we recite the Mishna of Elu Devarim. Elu devarim says that there are mitzvot that bear fruit in this world, while the principal is saved for us in the next world. (One of the mitzvot listed in Elu Devarim is honoring parents.)
I think that the mitzvot have a component of prudence. Following the mitzvot is often the most responsible way to act. Sometimes the mitzvot good advice about how to act wisely and achieve our own self-interest. For instance, if you do acts of chessed, the recipients will sometimes return the favor, and the members of the community will like you and give you honor and support. The study of Torah pays off in thinking skills and self-control.
But the mitzvot are not all about prudence. The mitzvot have a component that transcends prudence. They have a component of compassion, of honesty, of humility, of yirat Hashem.
Sometimes all these core values overlap with rational self-interest. But since they are distinct values, there is also a set difference, where following the mitzvot is not the best way to optimize for self interest. Thus, burial of the dead is called “chessed shel emet”, because the recipient can never repay you.
When the mitzvot call for self-sacrifice, the reward may be in the next world. When the mitzvot call for prudence, the reward may be(partly) in this world.
Prudence is probabilistic. Statistically speaking, on average, people who honor their parents do better than those who neglect to do so. But prudence gives no guarantees. Tragically, there are those who honor their parents and get hurt nonetheless. Rebbe Akiva teaches us that these people will be rewarded in the world to come.
The boy had performed two mitzvot: honoring his father, and sending away the mother bird. The Torah promises a long life as a reward for both mitzvot.
Elisha ben Abuya declared, “There is no justice and no Judge,” and went off the derech.
Rebbe Akiva declared, “There is no reward for mitzvot in this world, but in the next world, there is reward.”
On the other hand, every morning after the blessings of the Torah, we recite the Mishna of Elu Devarim. Elu devarim says that there are mitzvot that bear fruit in this world, while the principal is saved for us in the next world. (One of the mitzvot listed in Elu Devarim is honoring parents.)
I think that the mitzvot have a component of prudence. Following the mitzvot is often the most responsible way to act. Sometimes the mitzvot good advice about how to act wisely and achieve our own self-interest. For instance, if you do acts of chessed, the recipients will sometimes return the favor, and the members of the community will like you and give you honor and support. The study of Torah pays off in thinking skills and self-control.
But the mitzvot are not all about prudence. The mitzvot have a component that transcends prudence. They have a component of compassion, of honesty, of humility, of yirat Hashem.
Sometimes all these core values overlap with rational self-interest. But since they are distinct values, there is also a set difference, where following the mitzvot is not the best way to optimize for self interest. Thus, burial of the dead is called “chessed shel emet”, because the recipient can never repay you.
When the mitzvot call for self-sacrifice, the reward may be in the next world. When the mitzvot call for prudence, the reward may be(partly) in this world.
Prudence is probabilistic. Statistically speaking, on average, people who honor their parents do better than those who neglect to do so. But prudence gives no guarantees. Tragically, there are those who honor their parents and get hurt nonetheless. Rebbe Akiva teaches us that these people will be rewarded in the world to come.
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