[MD] Probability

[Ham Priday]

Case --

Ham said:
> Everything that happens can be said to happen because the
> probability of its happening is 100%.  If it had a probability
> of anything less than 100% it wouldn't occur at all.  What
> does that tell us about its cause or origin?

Case responded:
> Let's see in physics it explains the existence of the inorganic
> world. In biology is explains the evolution of life on the planet.
> In psychology it explains much of human and animal behavior.
> That's not enough for you?

I'm not an engineer, but I did graduate with a B.S. in Biology, a minor in
Chemistry, and some electives in Psychology and Logic.  Nowhere in this
curriculum was there a requirement for the Laws of Probability.  The basic
unit in Biology is the protoplasmic cell; in Chemistry, the elements and
their molecular valences.  (Psychology doesn't seem to claim a basic unit,
and Quantum Physics was not taught in undergraduate courses of the 50s.)

Now I'm not saying that probability doesn't enter into scientists' analysis
of biological processes or chemical reactions.  But I fail to understand how
it can account for, let alone explain, existence or the evolution of life.
Generating "probability factors" isn't creating organic or inorganic
entities any more than betting at the tracks is raising horses.  Where are
the fundamentals of this science, apart from numbers and equations?

I know that you feel the inaccessibility of the "true present" is
significant.  But can you provide a simple example to demonstrate how
probability "explains" the existence of anything in the past or present?

Thanks, Case,
Ham