17 Result(s)

Chapter

Correction to: Everettian Probabilities, The Deutsch-Wallace Theorem and the Principal Principle

In the original version of the book, there was a spelling error in the chapter title wherein “Everettian” was incorrectly spelt as “Eerettian”.

Harvey R. Brown, Gal Ben Porath in Quantum, Probability, Logic (2020)

Chapter

Erratum to: Relativity without Spacetime

Joseph K. Cosgrove in Relativity without Spacetime (2018)

Chapter

Introduction

This chapter introduces the theme of the book (i.e., the challenge of chance) and includes brief surveys of the individual chapters.

Klaas Landsman, Ellen van Wolde, Noortje ter Berg in The Challenge of Chance (2016)

Chapter

When Chance Strikes: Random Mutational Events as a Cause of Birth Defects and Cancer

Faithful and stable inheritance of DNA is coupled with occasional random errors of replication that lead to a change in the DNA code known as mutation. Mutations can be considered as “good” because they are th...

Han G. Brunner in The Challenge of Chance (2016)

Chapter

Chance, Variation and the Nature of Causality in Ecological Communities

Chance is pervasive in nature. Erratic events such as storms and fires can cause major damage to an ecosystem. Rare successful long distance dispersal events like a viable seed landing in just the right habita...

Hans de Kroon, Eelke Jongejans in The Challenge of Chance (2016)

Chapter

Accidental Harm Under (Roman) Civil Law

A leading idea under Roman private law and nearly all European legal systems is that an owner has to bear the risk of an accidental loss (casus). An accident is a circumstance for which a third party cannot be bl...

Corjo Jansen in The Challenge of Chance (2016)

Chapter

The Mathematical Foundations of Randomness

We give a nontechnical account of the mathematical theory of randomness. The theory of randomness is founded on computability theory, and it is nowadays often referred to as algorithmic randomness. It comes in...

Sebastiaan A. Terwijn in The Challenge of Chance (2016)

Chapter

Randomness and the Games of Science

Recently it has become clear that too many findings reported in the scientific literature are irreproducible. We study the causes of this phenomenon from a statistical perspective. Although a certain amount of...

Jelle J. Goeman in The Challenge of Chance (2016)

Chapter

Chance in the Hebrew Bible: Views in Job and Genesis 1

There are a variety of views on ‘chance’ to be found in the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament. In this chapter we will discuss the Book of Job and the opening chapter in the Book of Genesis, i.e. Genesis 1, both ...

Ellen van Wolde in The Challenge of Chance (2016)

Chapter

The Experience of Coincidence: An Integrated Psychological and Neurocognitive Perspective

In this chapter, we focus on psychological and brain perspectives on the experience of coincidence. We first introduce the topic of the experience of coincidence in general. In the second section, we outline s...

Michiel van Elk, Karl Friston, Harold Bekkering in The Challenge of Chance (2016)

Chapter

The Size of History: Coincidence, Counterfactuality and Questions of Scale in History

Historians try to interpret the past by analysing patterns in human behaviour in earlier periods of time. In some ways, that excludes ‘coincidence’ as a mode of interpretation. Most historians view coincidence...

Olivier Hekster in The Challenge of Chance (2016)

Chapter

Taming Chaos. Chance and Variability in the Language Sciences

This paper focuses on chance and variability in language, and how the language sciences have dealt with that variability. After describing four types of variability found: (a) Inter-species variability, (b) In...

Roeland van Hout, Pieter Muysken in The Challenge of Chance (2016)

Chapter

Conceptual and Historical Reflections on Chance (and Related Concepts)

In everyday language, the use of such words as “chance,” “coincidence,” “luck,” “fortune” or “randomness” strongly overlap. In fact, in some languages, such as German, they coincide in one word (Zufall). In other...

Christoph H. Lüthy, Carla Rita Palmerino in The Challenge of Chance (2016)

Chapter

Randomness and the Madness of Crowds

Human interaction often appears to be random and at times even chaotic. We use game theory, the mathematical study of interactive decision making, to explain the role of rationality and randomness in strategic...

Utz Weitzel, Stephanie Rosenkranz in The Challenge of Chance (2016)

Chapter

The Fine-Tuning Argument: Exploring the Improbability of Our Existence

Our laws of nature and our cosmos appear to be delicately fine-tuned for life to emerge, in a way that seems hard to attribute to chance. In view of this, some have taken the opportunity to revive the scholast...

Klaas Landsman in The Challenge of Chance (2016)

Chapter

Happiness and Invulnerability from Chance: Western and Eastern Perspectives

Since the beginning of Western philosophy, thinkers have discussed how one might lead a good, i.e. a happy, life and what role luck plays in flourishing. According to one dominant Ancient Greek tradition, life...

Johannes M. M. H. Thijssen, David R. Loy in The Challenge of Chance (2016)