Playing Dice with God

 

Albert Einstein is famously quoted as saying, “God does not play dice with the universe.” The context of this quote comes from a disagreement Einstein had with the developers of The Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics, primarily Niels Bohr. The Copenhagen interpretation states that quantum mechanics is intrinsically indeterministic and based on probabilities. Einstein believed that nature did “not play dice”, meaning that every event occurring in nature is caused by something else and is therefore not based on probabilities, which Bohr believed to be the case.

Improvisation is all about rolling the dice. Unlike scripted theater, everything in Improv is basically a crap shoot. A performer doesn’t know what suggestion might come from the audience and although the performer comes prepared with improv skills such as making strong choices, having a distinct character, bringing an emotion to the scene, and even practicing pantomime to help set an imaginary stage, there is no way to predict what choices the other performers will bring to the scene. So even with training in the basic skills, weekly practice, and the familiarity of the ensemble’s “group mind”, each improvised scene, play, or performance is a calculated roll of the dice.

For me, improvisation is not just an art form, it’s a philosophy of life. Each of us is given a certain set of realities in which we are born, our gender, our race, our nationality, our family, our social and economic status. These are facts that we cannot change. Dr. Mark Rank, Professor of Sociology at Washington University in St. Louis, calls these the currents that affect our lives. They push us in certain directions. But life consists of more than these pre-determined currents. In researching his book, The American Dream, he found that although everyone he interviewed had studied and worked hard to achieve their dream, they all mentioned one piece of luck or chance that changed everything. It might have been a chance meeting, an unexpected phone call or letter, or a serendipitous breakthrough. This led Rank to believe that that even within the currents there are ripples of randomness.  As Robert Burns wrote in 1875, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.”

We encounter disruptions and upsets in our plans every day. The current buzzword in business is “pivot.” When life throws a curve or the dice come up snake-eyes, one needs to adjust quickly on the fly. In improvisation, we call that acceptance and “Yes, And!” A disruption in our schedule or change in plans may be good or bad, but it’s not necessarily the event itself that’s the issue, it’s how we react to it. In Improv we see all offers (suggestions) as a gift. There are no bad ideas in improvisation, just opportunities.  Using improvisation as a life philosophy, we begin to see currents and ripples as opportunities. We know we can’t control the roll of the dice. Sometimes we get the ace, sometimes the deuces.

Going back to playing dice with God. I know God had some plan for the universe. He created all things out of love and hoped for the best. But did God plan every detail? Did God set up Adam and Eve by sending in the snake? Are we mere puppets in some sick, elaborate play of God’s creation? I think not. I think God set us up for success, gave us free will, and then rolled the dice. Sometimes we get it right, sometimes we don’t, but God is always there to say the game isn’t over. Let’s keep playing, let’s keep improvising. Let’s keep rolling the dice and hope for the best.