The Whole Of Physics Is Probabilistic

When summarizing the differences between standard and quantum physics, a common claim is that standard physics is predictable, while quantum physics is shrouded in unpredictability and general uncertainty.  It is often said that quantum physics is probabilistic (with exact particle locations at a given time being unknown), whereas "normal" physics is referenced as if it is not.  Although this description of the gap between the two scales of physics is popular, it usually has the consequence of thoroughly misrepresenting the nature of science as a whole to the average person.

Placing explicit emphasis on the probabilistic nature of contemporary models of quantum physics can be highly misleading because the unspoken but implied premise is that scientific occurrences at the macroscale are not probabilistic.  Many examples of the probabilistic nature of "ordinary" science can be cited.  Can anyone prove that the sun will rise tomorrow morning?  Can anyone prove that the next rock to fall into a lake will sink?  Can anyone prove that the laws of electromagnetism will persist beyond the next five minutes?  While many people would find these questions odd and perhaps even somewhat alarming, it is impossible to prove that any of these things will or must happen.  In one sense, all of science is as probabilistic as quantum physics!

We are simply more familiar with sensory experiences at the scale of the macroworld than we are with hypothetical or actual particle behaviors at the quantum scale, but this does not mean that "ordinary" scientific events are not just as probabilistic as alleged quantum events.  On the contrary, the only reason one can anticipate what will happen if a book is dropped is recalled experiences of previous events: it seems most probable that what happened before in the same circumstances will happen again.  There is and can be no guarantee, short of absolute omniscience about the matter, that any scientific laws will remain constant even a moment into a future.  As such, it is not as if quantum physics is the only area of science surrounded by uncertainty.

Whether a given scientific law still applies at the current time is discovered on a moment by moment basis, and this is as true of the macroworld as it is of quantum physics.  In this regard, there is simply not much of a distinction between reported phenomena at the subatomic level and everyday phenomena that are experienced by the typical person.  The only place that one can obtain absolute certainty is the realm of logic, which governs all of our experiences, from the most banal, everyday occurrences to the most abstract or introspective contemplations; the whole of science is derived from probabilistic premises, and that includes every branch of physics.