There is a lot of talk in the scientific world about how things happen by chance. However, all chance really means is that we are ignorant of the laws that cause an event.
Take for instance the flipping of a coin. We say that whether it lands heads or tails is a matter of chance. We will even say that there is a 50-50 chance of it being either heads or tails. However, if we analyze things closer, we realize that we really could predict how the coin would land. If we knew the exact weight of the coin, the initial position, the exact shape of the coin, the force applied, the direction of the force, any wind currents, the exact shape of the surrounding area, and all other necessary factors we could calculate with certainity the exact position of the coin when it came to rest.
So in reality when we say something happens by chance, we are simply saying that we are ignorant of the underlying processes. We can predict the frequency of the possible results with some certainty over a large number of trials, but we cannot predict the outcome of a given trial.
Remeber this the next time someone says that something happened by chance.
Chance = Ignorance
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My children learned a catechism question a couple years ago that asked:
Q: Is there any such thing as chance or luck?
A: There is no such thing as chance or luck; everything is controlled by the providence of God.
My oldest son loves to quote this whenever anyone says: 'good luck' or 'you sure were lucky!'
If only we could really live as though we believed that!
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