The Certainty of Natural Laws

The most basic observation about the world is that the world is not random.  Reality manifests order.  Despite their infinite complexity – phenomena are not chaotic.  

In the physical domain, phenomena express in their dynamism through the bond between causes, conditions and effects associated with a given phenomenon.  Laws of nature can be expressed in specific quantitative components.

In the mental field, relationships between people manifest certain patterns of tendencies and motivations - having direction and leading to consequences.  Although mental phenomena do not follow strict laws - as is the case in the deterministic physical domain - nevertheless the occurrence of mental events display patterns and potentials.  Mental patterns of behaviour can be even predictable on social levels.  

Non-Randomness of the world is another name for the certainty of natural laws or order in all aspects of life - as experienced or observed by everyone.  

Interconnectedness and Impermanence necessitate the existence of Order

The Certainty of Change and the Certainty of Connectedness - both necessitate the certainty of Natural Laws: 

-  On one hand, all objects are composites of diverse elements (which are constantly changing in time).

-  On the other hand, the changes (in the composition and elements) reflect on changes in the surrounding objects, with which they are interconnected (through patterns of relationships with the environment).  

If there was no strict order to bind the occurring changes with their resulting effects, then the changes would become chaotic.  The dynamism of natural phenomena, however, is not chaotic.  There must exist a specific bond, a law, that combines the dynamism of change with their connectedness - to form specific patterns.  Without a law of a binding order there would have been no consistent phenomena to distinguish or observe in the first place.

NonRandomness of the Physical Aspect of Phenomena

The natural order in the world is expressed through:

• Deterministic laws (such as gravity, electromagnetism, etc.) describing predictable interactions.  
• Correlation or relationships which are not causation-based (for example correlation between mental stress and physical health).  
• Patterns of nonlinear phenomena, which variables are highly sensitive to initial conditions (weather systems, oscillating chemical reactions, etc.).

In the spatial domain, the non-randomness (manifestation of order) in the physical world can be observed in spatial arrangement of elements, as can be observed in plants, flowers and various phenomena.

In the temporal domain, a pattern can describe a particular sequence of events taking place in consecutive phases in time, such as the four seasons, expressing systematic and consistent patterns,

Unpredictability

Unpredictability of the outcome of some phenomena - means that our knowledge does not encompass the dynamism of changes of all involved factors.  For example: it is possible to precisely predict the direction of movement of two or three colliding billiard balls, but when the number of colliding particles amounts to millions (such as in moving gas particles) then our predictability of what direction a certain particle would follow - is not calculable, and hence the movement is called ‘random'.  However, even in the so called -  ‘random movement’ (as is the case in colliding gas molecules), a strictly defined pattern emerges on the macro scale.  The result of the incalculable or “random” movements of all molecules is a consistent relationship (Boyle’s Law) between the volume (or space occupied by these molecules), and overall temperature and pressure they induce.  

On one level of observation, the movement of particles is random - on another level of observation, the movement of particles integrates in a predictable pattern and leads to a specific law.

The Patterns of Chaos:

In many cases, using deterministic equations to examine a complex phenomenon results in unpredictable outcome, and this unpredictability is called “Chaos”.  However, the unpredictable outcome is not random, but follows patterns. It is ironic that Chaos Theory describes the existence of distinguished patterns:

“While most traditional science deals with supposedly predictable phenomena like gravity, electricity, or chemical reactions, Chaos Theory deals with nonlinear things that are effectively impossible to predict or control, like turbulence, weather, the stock market, our brain states, and so on. These phenomena are often described by fractal mathematics, which captures the infinite complexity of nature.

 Many natural objects exhibit fractal properties, including landscapes, clouds, trees, organs, rivers etc, and many of the systems in which we live exhibit complex, chaotic behavior." (1)

The words “chaotic behavior” describe our inability to predict the future states of complex systems.  An example of studying such systems was Edward Lorenz’s examination in 1960 of the dramatic effect of small deviations in the values of weather factors (temperature, humidity, etc…) on the outcome of future weather patterns:

“Lorenz had assumed that the difference [in values], only one part in a thousand, would be inconsequential. However, due to the recursive nature of the equations, little errors would first cause tiny errors, which would then affect the resulting next calculation a bit more, which would affect the output of the next run even more. The final result of a long string of recursive calculations would lead to a weather pattern totally different from the expected values”. (2)

This nonlinear character of processes, where small deviations can sharply switch the weather system - is in itself a pattern. It is a pattern of processes, which are sensitive to initial conditions (and which have various potentials of future development).

NonRandomness of the Mental Aspect of Phenomena

Mental phenomena do not follow deterministic laws, because the outcome of mental phenomena depends on personal tendencies and motivations - and which vary over time.  Intentionality of one’s consciousness, and hidden motivations in our subconsciousness - exert a direction, and having direction expresses preference and selectivity.  

In Western philosophy, a distinction is offered between living beings and inanimate matter through the criterion of “intentionality”:

“Intentionality is the power of minds to be about, to represent, or to stand for, things, properties and states of affairs….

The word itself, was rehabilitated by the philosopher Franz Brentano towards the end of the nineteenth century.

‘Intentionality’ is a philosopher’s word. It derives from the Latin word “intentio”, which in turn derives from the verb “intendere”, which means being directed towards some goal or thing”. (3)

Apparently, “goals” and “intentions” - characterising the mental aspect - reveal the essence the having direction.  

Studies in psychology investigate various levels (or patterns) associated with mindsets, such as anger, depression, inspiration, happiness, etc….This is a common observation, shared also in Eastern philosophy.

Despite the complexity of mental patterns, in essence: a cause of action leads to predictable consequences.  A word spoken with warm compassionate encouragement would create an effect different from a word spoken with arrogance or aggression.   The truth that causes lead to consequences is a certainty that is experienced by all people and is valid in all times and locations. 

Conclusion:  The World is governed by Order.  Occurring changes in phenomena do not manifest randomly.  Some patterns of change follow strict deterministic laws of nature, others - in the mental field - follow predictable patterns and potentials.

The Order that operates the dynamism of all phenomena is the bond between causes of movements or actions and their consequences.  All laws of nature describe bonds between cause, conditions and effects of a given phenomenon, and this bond is referred to as the Universal Law of Cause and Effect.

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Further Reading:

The Oneness of Cause and Effect