Precise is an ill used word. Even knowing the formal definition, when it is used we subconsciously round off the corners and soften the edges. We are prone to accept a reasonable margin of error. When I weighed myself this morning, I weighed one hundred seventy-four pounds. I don’t weigh one hundred seventy-four pounds! This computer says the time is eight: forty-nine p.m. It is not eight: forty-nine p.m.! My drivers license says I’m fifty-six years old. I am not fifty-six years old! Throughout our lives, when it comes to measurement we accept slop. We matter of factly accept a margin of error knowing precision only means the best man is capable of, and what man himself is capable of is nothing close to the definition of precise.
The physics which keeps our universe functioning has no such luxury. As a band member tuning my guitar, there was a common phrase: Close enough for rock and roll. When playing your music distorted and loud, fine tuning isn’t a primary concern. However, for our universe to function without disintegrating into chaos, close enough is not anywhere near close enough. Universal physics is not a hit or miss proposition. There is no bull’s eye. When macroscopic, mideoscopic and microscopic systems interact there is no room for error. Momentum, velocity, trajectory, force, impact, rebound, gravity, (the short list); the functioning of all the elements of our physical world are absolutely precise. Absolute precision is demanded, and absolute precision is given.
The movements of galaxies, solar systems and other roaming elements are subject to this precision. On a smaller scale, the opening and shutting of a closet door, the chewing of a piece of medium rare steak or a simple smile; these too must submit to this same exactness. Movement in the molecular, atomic and subatomic realm must function precisely as well. Were there to be allowances for slight misjudgments, faulty calculations, or whimsical movements, in time, our world would sink into irrationality; chaos. The predictability and dependability within our universe would vaporize. The scientific method would crumble. We take this impeccable precision for granted. We thoughtlessly expect our world to function with precise perfection. With thoughtless nonchalance we demand it. We would be utterly traumatized were precise perfection not the unerring norm.
On our interstates the speed limit is seventy miles an hour. Nobody goes seventy miles an hour! Speed limit laws are regarded as legal suggestions. Stay close to seventy and you’ll be okay. Natural laws are not suggestions. The mathematic laws of physics are precise and unforgiving. Apollo 13, the Challenger and the Columbia are examples of what happens when you get a little sloppy adhering to the natural mathematic laws of physics.
Every cause and effect event throughout the universe for all time has been a precise and perfect experience. Take a minute to swallow that one! The passing of one moment to the next has a sum balance of zero; nothing left over and nothing missing; every speck of matter precisely where it should be; every joule of energy meticulously accounted for. Though the fan in the Laundromat was wobbling, its movements were pristinely precise; absolutely perfect. Universal experience has always been perfect.
Does this astound anyone else besides me? That is one heck of a winning streak. It’s an amazing string of perfect moments without an accident in the factory. I can’t jump rope more than thirty or forty hops without messing up. The universe has been hopping away for billions of years, hot peppers no less, without missing a skip; not one!
We exist in a precise universe, a realm of perfected physical interaction. This perfection silently lends support to the postulate, the universe is an extension of a Greater Intelligence; The Creator, perhaps. Inorganic intelligence, vibrating strings of energy, the precise nature of the physics based universal continuum: It is possible. The concept has been around for thousands of years. The concept doesn’t have many adherents, but it’s been there.
Amidst this all-encompassing precision, how does the whimsical nature of choice, of autonomous free-will, fit in? Amongst all the universal macrocosmic and microcosmic systems and everything in between; at what point does all this spectacular precision break down or disengage and let whimsical choice enter?
The subatomic, atomic and molecular realms are constructed of precisely arranged and precisely interacting particles of mass and energy. The choreography is pristine, fantastically elegant, unbelievably detailed, seamlessly woven and oh, so, so common; quite ordinary, really! There is no hint of choice or slop at this level.
Atoms and molecules then combine in unique and dynamic patterns to form little chemical communities; a strict communism where the whole demands the unequivocal obedience of all its members. There is nothing whimsical about these communities. Let one electron casually slip into another level and bing, bang, boom! The molecule is kicked out of the community. If change does occur, it must be in response to an authoritative command and it must follow an exact and meticulously prescribed process. There must be a definitive cause for the electron to experience a definitive effect. This process is performed with a rigorous discipline. There is no provision for a disobedient member. Disobedience is simply out of the question. It doesn’t happen. Autonomy is non-existent at this level.
