Q&A: Abstract Laws
Abstract Laws
Question
Hello. Is it correct to believe that God created the laws of probability, such as the law of large numbers, just as it is correct to believe that He created the laws of nature?
Answer
Probability is a mathematical field, like algebra or geometry. Therefore it involves logical necessity, and in any case these are not laws in the sense that the laws of nature are laws. They are simply necessary relations between concepts. To say that the chance of getting a 5 when rolling a fair die is 1/6 is a logical consequence of the concept “fair.” Just as the sum of the angles in a triangle being 180 degrees follows from the definition of a triangle and Euclidean space. The question begins with applying these mathematical theories to life or to the world. Here, of course, the question arises whether the world obeys these mathematical models or others. In that sense, the Holy One, blessed be He, created the world in such a way that it obeys certain models. For example, He created Euclidean space or some other kind, and that logically dictates its geometry. As for dice, if you made a fair die then the probability follows from that. If your die is not fair, then the probability is different. You created the laws of probability regarding your die, by creating the die in a certain way. But given the die, and the laws of nature governing its falling and rolling, the laws of probability apply to it logically.
See also Columns 50 and 318.