Is our destiny hiding in plain sight, protected from us by Laplace’s Demon?

Laplace’s Demon was unleashed on the scientific community 200 years ago as the deterministic force that came to dominate much thought on the concept of free will. The Demon was declared dead by the emergence of quantum theory and its logical breaking down of the relation between causality and causation. But the Demon could be alive and kicking, under the guise of probability.

The Demon in question was the brainchild of the French mathematician Laplace, who declared that “if an intellect at a certain moment would know all the forces that set nature in motion, and all positions of all items of which nature is composed…nothing would be uncertain, and the future just like the past would be present before its eyes.”

However, such a Demon would need infinite computational power to track and process every particle and force in the universe, which not only is unattainable but also debatable whether the universe itself contains enough energy or time for such calculations. And besides, on a quantum level, that knowledge only reveals itself as probability, until measured, making the concept of omniscience impossible.

Or does it? What if Laplace's Demon has been hiding in plain sight as the wavefunction of quantum mechanics, and on top of having a universal knowledge also protects us from that same knowledge – and, ultimately, from knowing our own fate.

The Wavefunction: The Demon Within?

In quantum physics, the wavefunction is the mathematical representation of all possible states a system can inhabit. Unlike the deterministic universe imagined by Laplace, the wavefunction deals in probabilities, not certainties. It’s a cosmic ledger of possibilities, collapsing into a single outcome only when observed. In this sense, the wavefunction can be considered a modern incarnation of Laplace’s Demon - a paradoxical being that "knows" all potential outcomes yet guards the secrets of certainty until the last moment, for our own good, and thereby providing motivation for life to seek that elusive meaning.

Humanity’s search for meaning in a probabilistic Universe

This uncertainty, then, isn’t a bug; it’s a feature. The universe’s refusal to be fully knowable creates the very conditions that make life meaningful. Uncertainty fuels curiosity, creativity, and the drive to explore. If Laplace’s Demon existed in its classical form, would we still search for answers or strive for progress? Would free will have any meaning in a world where every choice was preordained?

Quantum mechanics offers a profound alternative: a universe where uncertainty isn’t a limitation but a cosmic design. The wavefunction, like the Demon, might "know" everything - but it withholds certainties, preserving the mystery and freedom essential to human existence.

In the end, Laplace’s Demon might not be a threat to free will but its greatest ally, ensuring that life remains unpredictable, choices remain meaningful, and our search for understanding never ends.