"The world changed from having the determinism of a clock to having the contingency of a pinball machine"

In this quote, Heinz R. Pagels is highlighting the shift in our understanding of the world from a deterministic view to a more unpredictable one. The comparison of the world to a clock, which operates in a foreseeable and established manner, represents the standard belief in cause and effect. However, with the emergence of quantum mechanics and turmoil theory, our understanding of the world has moved to one of contingency, where even the tiniest actions can have unforeseeable and significant repercussions. The reference to a pinball machine, with its random bounces and unforeseeable outcomes, further emphasizes this idea of contingency. In general, Pagels is recommending that our understanding of the world has ended up being more intricate and uncertain, difficult our previous concepts of determinism.