The Effect of the Law of Uncertainty In Lives of Men

The Effect of the Law of Uncertainty In the Lives of Men

Brent Anderson

Email pba@xmission.com Web site www.xmission.com/~pba

Not many are acquainted with the law of uncertainty or the fundamental effect that this physical law of matter and energy has upon the lives of men and women. The reason for this lack of knowledge is that the most obvious illustrations of the principle occur on the level of photons of light and atomic structures. Yet these seemingly bizarre interactions of light and matter are the basis of physical life, as we know it. While it is not easily observed, our lives are intricately entwined with uncertainty at all levels of existence, and it accounts for all the probabilities of life from birth to death. The fact is that this law is at the very heart of the existence of all living organisms.

It is not difficult to understand this attribute of matter and energy, since it is well illustrated by simple thought experiments. Imagine a room within which there is a perfect vacuum, or in other words an absence of any matter. Into this room an atom of Oxygen or any other atom could be introduced. If we were to try and locate that single Atom within the room we would have to look in every cubic centimeter (cc) of that room instantaneously because it might be any where within the room. If we tried to look in each cc consecutively over a period of time we might not ever find the Atom. Since it would be in constant motion it might move to any other cc in which we had already looked or be found in two or more different cc’s as we consecutively look in each cc contained in the room. From this we conclude that to know the absolute location of that Atom in space requires us to freeze time and that is impossible. Ultimately, we are forced to accept that we cannot ever know the atoms spatial coordinate with any certainty. This same uncertainty applies to the electrons that motivate our nervous systems, the photons of light that bring us sight, and the chemical reactions that bring life to our bodies. We cannot ever predict the circumstance of the next second of time with absolute certainty.

Because of innate uncertainty, all forms of life can only be understood in terms of probabilities. While it is quite probable that the reader will continue to exist as a living being in the next second, there is also a distinct possibility that he or she might not. Considering again our room, we could assign a probability that the Atom will be in any individual cc at an instant of time, as one divided by the total number of cc’s in the room. For example, if our room contains 1000 cc, then the probability of our Atom being in one particular cc is 1/1000 or one in a thousand. However, if we were clever enough to build a machine that could instantly survey all 1000 individual cc’s, then we would know the absolute spatial coordinates of the cc in which the Atom was located. However, even if we could we would not have any idea where it would be in the next instant of time, or even its location within the relatively huge volume of the identified cc. To make matters even more complex, our Atom is confined to a wave-like volume within which it travels, and there is an inherent probability factor that would apply to any of a myriad of possible spatial coordinates of the Atom within the waveform.

The concept of uncertainty is not new, since almost all are well acquainted with the fact that everything in life is a gamble, and this is well illustrated by the human ritual of the coin toss. The chances of either heads or tails are really determined by micro effects of the uncertainty principle when all the components involved in tossing the coin are added into the equation. Chance also plays a large part in every decision we make in life, and again those decisions are brought about in our minds on the level of micro chemical reactions and the movement of electrons. Because our memories of the past are built upon these same chance interactions of chemicals and electrons within our brains, even they become subject to degradation with passing time. The universe in which we live is shaped by the chaos dictated by uncertainty, and consequently, we are beings who are ultimately brought into the world by the random shuffling (chance) of our father’s and mother’s genes.

Our Father (God) designed this world and universe with its innate uncertainty for the express purpose of providing an education for we, His children. This world of chance and uncertainty provides us with a schoolroom in which we are forced for the first time in our eternal existence to make decisions without the omnipresent intelligence of our Father and Family to guide us. Here our memories of Home are extinguished within the evolving brains of our infant bodies wherein uncertainty reigns, as it must in any system shaped by evolution. Our spirit can no longer draw upon the intelligence and communal memories of Home and the enforced deprivation of a nervous system that grows from virtually nothing to our very complex adult brain leaves us with permanent amnesia of our wonderful Home. No matter where we look in our universe, we are confronted with manifestations of uncertainty. Whether it is the ever-changing climate of the Earth or the ever-changing weather conditions on the Sun, nothing can ever be certain, or ever, the same as that experienced in the last instant of time. In this state of existence, we must remain uncertain as to what the next second will bring. We believe that the world in which we exist for a few short years is a place of permanence in which we might build a fortune or a treasure. It is plain to all that this is an illusion, or even a delusion, but we persist in placing our faith in the impermanent while sometimes ignoring the real and permanent Home that we have left for a very short time.

Our Father’s House is a place of permanence and certainty where all others within the Family know all other’s thoughts. In other words, all have access to the thoughts of every member of the family, and we the Children were, as a consequence, no longer challenged in our decision-making. So Father proposed to us, the immature Children, that, in order for us to become more like him, we would need to experience a life within a universe filled with uncertainty just as He had in his youth. He was well aware that some of the children were not yet mature enough to undergo this test. It was no surprise to him that some were frightened of this challenge and would refuse to come to this chaotic place. But the majority felt we would be successful and return as more mature individuals. We were well aware of the difficulty, but volunteered because we knew of certainty that this was an absolutely essential step in our growth. So we all decided upon and co-created this universe along with the rest of the Family. What we created was an ephemeral, to us, place where uncertainty ruled.

Now we are here, and few if any, would say that our test is an easy experience. Father knew that we would perish if we were to be left here without some help from Home. From His past experience, He knew that if we were left without guidance in this universe we would live by the law of, kill or be killed which is a consequence of natural law, and where would the learning experience be in that? Therefore we decided that there should be sparingly given knowledge. Just enough so that we would have a clear choice, but not so much as to remove doubt from our minds. We are to live by faith or not as we see fit. Our care packages have come to us in the form of Prophets, and ultimately, our elected older Brother (The Savior) who volunteered to suffer and die that we might have a well-marked pathway back to Home. Those care packages continue to arrive every day for those who choose to follow the path marked for our return. (Plainly stated revelation did not die with the deaths of the first Apostles.) This was not a new plan, but one that we previously had seen implemented before as each successive class of children progressed toward adulthood.

In our current state of uncertainty, we are challenged by every moment of life. Life is an exquisite agony of decisions and uncertainty simply because we have forgotten all that went before. We are faced with a world that we believe to be permanent and real in spite of the obvious fact that it is not. The Savior said in beautifully simple words to those who will listen, “build your treasures in Heaven where rust and moth don’t corrupt”. Who of us is willing to bet anything on living for 300 years on the Earth? Obviously none, but since many fail to see uncertainty for what it is, they in essence are betting on living on the Earth for eternity, while failing to bet on the one certainty of this life, which is death of the physical body, and the eternity that follows. The unbelievers have eyes but do not see; Ears but they do not hear. They think that these few moments in time, wherein they seek to gain power over their own brother and sisters, are all there is to our existence. In doing so they bet their legacy against the only certainty of this life and they will loose that bet and loose the legacy that was theirs because of their own pride and vanity. These truths and certainties have been testified to by our Savior, Father, prophets and all those back Home with certainty and love.