Quantum indeterminacy ^f1efcf
- Uncertainty Principle, e.g. electron cloud, radioactive decay
- At the quantum scale (sneeze)
- About individual particles
- Inherent unpredictability of specific behavior
Chemical reaction
- E.g. electron orbital changes, binding affinities, reaction rates
- At the molecular scale (glacier)
- About interaction & bonds
- Movement of electrons / transition between states
- Governed by potential energy landscape → reliable & reproducible
- Not certainty, but known probabilities
- Biochemical processes
- Highly structural & biased (geometric fit)
- Thermal noise (classical particles collision) dominates
Mutations
- Non-quantum
- DNA polymerase errors (thermal/statistical)
- Chemical instability
- Radiation (cause classical damage)
- Chemical mutagens
- Transposons or viruses
- Quantum: Proton tunneling (tautomer shifts), rare
In systems with no mechanisms of amplification
- Statistically averaged out by sheer number
- Decoherence by interaction with the environment
Magnitude comparison
| Event | Domain | Timescale | Analogy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orbital period | Quantum | 10⁻¹⁶ s | 1 second |
| Electron transition | Quantum | 10⁻¹⁵ s | 10 seconds |
| Molecular vibration | Molecular | 10⁻¹³ (to 10⁻¹² s) | 17 minutes |
| Bond break/form | Chemical | 10⁻¹² (to 10⁻⁹ s) | 116 days |
| Enzymatic reaction | Biochemical | 10⁻⁶ s (to 10⁻³ s) | 300 years |
| Neural spike | Neurophysiological | 10⁻³ s | 30000 years |
- Nuclear (atomic) rearrangement in slow
- Transitional state & energy barrier crossing is slow
Structured processes + uncertainties (may amplify)
Comparable to trends vs fluctuations in Commonalities & Differences
- Scaffold of macroscopic orders
- Governed by well-understood laws (rate constants, population dynamics)
- Statistically structured, not clockwork deterministic
- Interconnected, dynamic, complex causal networks
- Embedded fluctuations
- Multiple levels (quantum, thermal, chemical)
- Not dominant most of the time, but not negligible
- Mechanisms of amplification
- Thresholds (neuron firing, developmental)
- Positive feedback loop (hormonal cascades)
- Digital coding (DNA single mutation)
Meta-critique: Categorical Thinking?
- Divisions are
- Not ontologically distinct, arbitrary to some extent
- E.g. “quantum vs classical,” “thermal vs biological noise,” “signal vs amplification”
- Modeling convenience
- We filter reality through representations
- Useful in the right context: clarify, explain, predict