Joseph asked:

Please describe the difference between a chance and a miracle (except that the latter is based on
supernatural influence).

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In terms of of ordinary language a miracle is an event or thing we cannot explain and chance only
exists when we are non-determinists. As we humans seem to want to explain everything and also
make everything predictable, and there are many different ways to do this, a more profound answer
to this question will very much depend on your worldview.

If you for example asked a pantheist, he/she would simply answer that God is identical with
everything, that therefore there are no supernatural events and hence it doesn't make sense to talk
about miracles. If you add strong determinism to this view, then also nothing will happen by chance.

In the worldview of "classical physics" events are determined by cause and effect. Every event can be
described by laws of nature. A miracle, then is a violation of a law of nature and there are two ways to
explain away this violence:

a. Whenever we encounter a miracle we are hallucinating.

b. Every miracle can be explained, when our understanding of the laws of nature is sufficient.

Development psychology supports view b: To a new born baby everything is a miracle and happens
by chance. Step by step he/she learns to explain things or at least to develop a model how things
could be. As we grow older the number of miracles decreases while our knowledge increases. Some
anthropologists apply this view of development on the whole mankind.

Many people feel that this more or less mechanical assumption is wrong and there really are
miracles. To evade the strong opposition between describable event and miracle, between certainty
and possibility/ chance, we nowadays tend to give the term miracle a weaker definition with a dash of
chance. For example, Merriam Webster defines miracle as "an extremely outstanding or unusual
event", which is similar to saying something happens by chance.

In terms of quantum physics strange things happen for the same reason that anything else happens
— everything follows the same rules. Due to quantum mechanical effects, there is an inherent
randomness, "chance", in everything. Everything has a certain probability of happening. When you
roll a die, there is approximately a one in six chance of rolling any particular number between 1 and 6
and there is a very little chance for it to stop on an edge. Air molecules move around a room
randomly. There is a small chance, that all of the air molecules move to the one side of the room. If
this happened, it would not be good for anyone in the room at the time: the effect would be that
people in the room suddenly exploded! As this would have happened for no obvious reason we would
talk of a miracle. Hopefully this drastic example never will happen!

Simone Klein

http://www.sophiasworld.at

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