"If God has made the world a perfect mechanism, He has at least conceded so much to our imperfect intellect that in order to predict little parts of it, we need not solve innumerable differential equations, but can use dice with fair success"
About this Quote
The intent sits in the tension between “perfect mechanism” and “imperfect intellect.” He grants determinism as a hypothetical courtesy to the theologians and mechanists, then undercuts it with epistemology: prediction is an engineering problem, not a devotional one. The subtext is Copenhagen-era realism: quantum theory doesn’t merely reflect human limitations; it formalizes them. Probability isn’t a temporary placeholder until we get smarter - it’s a working interface between mind and world.
Context matters. Born helped build quantum mechanics and, crucially, gave the wavefunction its statistical interpretation (the Born rule). That put him at odds with Einstein’s refusal to accept fundamental chance. So the “dice” line is also a sly retort: even if God isn’t gambling, we effectively must. Not because science has failed, but because science has learned what kind of answers the universe is willing to yield.
Quote Details
| Topic | Free Will & Fate |
|---|---|
| Source | Verified source: Albert Einstein: Philosopher-Scientist (Max Born, 1951)
Evidence: if God has made the world a perfect mechanism, he has at least conceded so much to our imperfect intellect that, in order to predict little parts of it, we need not solve innumerable differential equations but can use dice with fair success. (p. 176 (chapter/essay: "Einstein's Statistical Theories" by Max Born)). Primary-source location (Born's own published text) for the wording is Max Born's essay "Einstein's Statistical Theories" in P. A. Schilpp (ed.), Albert Einstein: Philosopher-Scientist (1951), p. 176. I also located the same sentence in a scanned/hosted copy of Born's later collected-essays volume Physics in My Generation, embedded in the chapter titled "EINSTEIN'S STATISTICAL THEORIES" on the page printed as 62 (the site’s line 134 shows the sentence). That later appearance is a reprint; the earliest publication I can verify from sources retrieved is the 1951 Schilpp volume. I have not yet been able (from the materials retrieved here) to confirm an earlier first-publication than 1951 (e.g., an earlier journal printing or a spoken lecture transcript). Other candidates (1) Physics in My Generation (Max Born, 2013) compilation97.7% ... if God has made the world a perfect mechanism , he has at least conceded so much to our imperfect intellect that ... |
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Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Born, Max. (2026, February 23). If God has made the world a perfect mechanism, He has at least conceded so much to our imperfect intellect that in order to predict little parts of it, we need not solve innumerable differential equations, but can use dice with fair success. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-god-has-made-the-world-a-perfect-mechanism-he-93324/
Chicago Style
Born, Max. "If God has made the world a perfect mechanism, He has at least conceded so much to our imperfect intellect that in order to predict little parts of it, we need not solve innumerable differential equations, but can use dice with fair success." FixQuotes. February 23, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-god-has-made-the-world-a-perfect-mechanism-he-93324/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"If God has made the world a perfect mechanism, He has at least conceded so much to our imperfect intellect that in order to predict little parts of it, we need not solve innumerable differential equations, but can use dice with fair success." FixQuotes, 23 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-god-has-made-the-world-a-perfect-mechanism-he-93324/. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026.
