On Quantum Randomness and Determinism

A century after its inception, the counterintuitive nature of quantum mechanics challenges the role of intuition in science. Grounded in the framework of “the theory of unknown”, which is itself built upon the Principle of Operational Indiscernibility—asserting that cognition arises from operations rather than presupposed essences—this paper re-examines the most contentious property of quantum theory: randomness. By rigorously conditioning “randomness” on sets of operations, we establish a spectral definition: pseudo-randomness (algorithmically determined), relative true randomness (indiscernible under all current operations), absolute true randomness (indiscernible under all possible operations), and the epistemologically fundamental “Unknown-Theoretic Randomness” (indiscernible under all defined operations). Our analysis demonstrates that the historic Einstein-Bohr debate on “whether God plays dice” was essentially a misaligned dialogue between the belief-based notion of absolute true randomness and the empirical evidence for relative true randomness. Within the operational framework, regardless of the underlying ontology, the stable statistical patterns of quantum phenomena (as governed by the law of large numbers) constitute the only valid starting point for scientific cognition and practice. We therefore argue that once randomness is operationally clarified within the context of the theory of unknown, the associated philosophical disputes dissolve.