The Uncertainty Principle Series

I hope this series on the Physics of Faith does for you what that class in immunology did for me. Oliver Wendel Holmes said, “A mind stretched by a new idea never returns to its original shape.” I hope this series stretches your physics and your faith.

The Uncertainty Principle

There are amazing parallels in the physical and spiritual worlds. For every law of physics, there is a spiritual counterpart. Each evotional in this series will explore a law of physics and then juxtapose faith next to it.

In 1932, a German physicist named Werner Heisenberg won the Nobel Prize for his work on quantum mechanics. His discovery ranks as one of the greatest scientific revolutions in the 20th century. For hundreds of years, determinism ruled the day. Physicists believed in a clockwork universe that was measurable and predictable. Heisenberg pulled the rug out from the under the scientific community.

Here’s Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle in a nutshell: we cannot know the precise position and momentum of a quantum particle at the same time. Here’s why. Sometimes matter behaves like a particle—it appears to be in one place at one time. But sometimes matter behaves like a wave—it appears to be in several places at the same time almost like a wave on a pond. It is the duality of nature. So here’s the deal: the imprecise measurement of initial conditions precludes the precise prediction of future outcomes. Or to put it in layman’s terms: there will always be an element of uncertainty.

Let me come at it from one other angle.

Benoit Mandelbrot is the father of fractal geometry which is the study of complex shapes. Some shapes—like clouds and coastlines—are infinitely complex. Here’s what is meant by infinite complexity: any detail can be magnified to reveal even more detail ad infinitum. Fractals are really the theological equivalent of what is called the incomprehensibility of God. God is infinitely complex.

So here’s my point. Life is infinitely uncertain and God is infinitely complex. I just think this is the only place to start a series on the Physics of Faith. It is a recognition of our finitude. Life is full of infinite uncertainties and God is infinitely complex. We can hate that. Or we can learn to love it.

The Gift of Uncertainty

Most of us have a love/hate relationship with uncertainty. We hate negative uncertainties—bad things that happen that we didn’t expect to happen. And we love positive uncertainties—good things that happen that we didn’t expect to happen. But you can’t have it both ways.

One week ago I was in Disneyworld. The entire experience was magical—everything from eating cotton candy to meeting goofy to the magic carpet ride. And my kids loved it too!

We were sort of concerned about our three year-old, Josiah, because he’s pretty much scared of everything, including Mickey Mouse. In all fairness, most of us are scared of mice. We scream and jump on chairs! And we’re afraid of the little versions that are fifty times smaller than we are. So I think it makes sense that a two-and-a-half foot tall kid is afraid of a six-and-a-half foot mouse! But I digress! The basic idea is that Josiah has a very low fear threshold. So, like any good parents, we decided to take him on the Pirates of the Caribbean!