Schrödinger Agnosticism

Schrödinger’s Cat.

You place a cat in a box. Inside the box you place a flask of hydrocyanic acid, that when broken, will release a gas killing the cat. (This flask would of course be protected from the cat breaking it, but not vice versa). Also with this flask is a device with a Geiger Counter hooked to a hammer. Inside the Geiger counter is an atom with an undetermined half life, which may or may not begin decaying in an hour. If the atom decays, it will set off the Geiger Counter and release a hammer that will shatter the flask, release the gas, and kill the cat. Now assume you leave for an hour. You come back. Before you open the box, is the cat alive or dead? (Schrödinger, 1935)

I would imagine that more than one person reading this thinks that this is a madman experiment. Now before you wonder what my problem is, and why I want to kill a poor kitty,

Help Me! (Wikimedia, 2005)

Understand that this is not a real experiment. It is simply a thought experiment proposed by Erwin Schrödinger to explain undeterminable variables in quantum physics (it should be noted that Erwin Schrödinger refers to this example as a “ridiculous case,” (Schrödinger, 1935) and only to be taken as a metaphor).

In this case, Schrödinger is attempting to explain that if the state of an atom is indeterminable, than all possible states must be correct. In the case of the cat, the cat is both alive and dead.  (Schrödinger, 1935) For those of you who, understandably, have issues understanding this experiment, I have drafted a simulation sketch to the experiment:

Yeah, that’s kind of what it’s like.

Now, for those of you who object to this result, I must explain that this does not necessarily mean that the cat is both alive and dead (though on a quantum physics scale, that is quite possible, but that’s another article), it simply means that both possibilities are just as likely. Because both possibilities are just as likely they can both be assumed as true, until we of course open the box. Before this point, the cat, for all intents and purposes must be assumed as alive and dead, and calculations must be made as such until we determine either.

The Agnostic Premise.

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary Agnostic comes from the Greek words: A (Without) + Gn­ōstos (Knowledge). Agnosticism is described as an admission of ignorance; one who believes that the existence of God is unknowable (paraph.)(Merriam-Webster, 2010). This answer has been, thus far, the best answer I could come across for the God Question.

Considering that the idea of God has no concrete evidence (despite what ardent Theists would say), and the fact that it is impossible to prove a negative, it seems easy to assume that God is unknowable. However, what good scientist stops there?

So how do we solve this? Well my solution is to make it into a math problem of course. Below, I have included a formula for probability:

Pr(f)=f(Favorable Outcome)/p (Possible Outcomes)

(Galvin, 2004)

In the example of Schrödinger’s cat we have two possible variables, alive or dead. That gives us a favorable outcome of 1 and possible outcomes of 2. That would mean:

Pr(Cat Alive)=1/2=.5=50%

Which yields us a result of chances of the cat being alive or dead are equal, 50%, therefore it is impossible to determine accurately (though one has a good chance of guessing right). Now, considering that the parameters of God remain unknown, and therefore could be anything, we can (and must) consider all possible ideas of God in a probability equation. Considering that there are a possible infinite amount of ideas about god, that makes our Favorable outcomes ∞ (infinity). And then we must consider that if the idea of God has infinite amount of possibilities than the possible outcome must be ∞ as well. This makes our equation:

if Pr(God) → ∞ than Pr(God) = ∞/∞ ≠ 1 = Undetermined

Schrodinger Agnosticism

We have officially placed God in the box. My probability equation has shown, if Pr(God) → ∞ than Pr(God)= Undetermined. Considering this information, the probability (the state) of God is mathematically (and logically), indeterminable. Applying the Thought Experiment, Schrodinger’s Cat, to the results of the equation, we find that God both Exists and Does Not Exist. Using mathematics and quantum physics as an explanation to the Universe, the choice of Agnosticism is the only method in which one can perceive God.

You place God in a box, inside the box is a paradox in which God both exists and does not exist. With out opening the box (or having the ability to open said box), does God exist?

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Works Cited
Galvin, A. (2004, Nov. 04). probability equations. Retrieved Jan. 04, 2010, from Connexions: http://cnx.org/content/m10244/latest/

Merriam-Webster. (2010). Merriam Webster Dictionary. Springfield, Massachusetts : Merriam-Webster, Inc.

Schrödinger, E. (1935). The Present Situation in Quantum Mechanics. Die Naturwissenschaften , 124, 323-38.

Wikimedia. (2005, Oct. 17). File:Schrödinger cat.png. Retrieved Jan. 04, 2010, from Wikimedia Commons: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Schr%C3%B6dinger_cat.png

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