: Consider the question of true randomness. Rolling a die
: can be taken as a random event since we have no tools
: to predict which face will turn up. But at the same
: time we can imagine that if we had more perfect tools
: for predicting every force that was going to impact
: that die over the next 15 seconds and knew the initial
: condition of the die, it is in principle possible to
: predict which face would turn up.
Something you just reminded me of here: I know a guy who can always, accurately, consistantly, tell you which side has landed up on a coin, provided he knows what side was up to begin with; because he's able to tell how many times it flipped in the air and then apply that to his knowledge of what side was up to begin with and calculate which side is up now. With a die it's the same thing, just a lot more complicated interaction (six sides instead of two, collisions with the table instead of just angular momentum and air resistance, etc).
