Is Reality Deterministic or Random?

The classical example of a random event, a coin toss, in principle is deterministic. It’s an event that obeys the laws of physics and so given perfect knowledge, like coin mass, force of the toss, the coin toss outcome could be predicted.

Then on the other hand, consider the implementation of a logical AND gate. An AND gate will behave deterministically without any randomness. But its physical substrate consists of electrons and photons which are governed by quantum uncertainty.

Classical coin tosses appear random but are deterministic underneath, while quantum logic gates appear deterministic but may be random at their foundation.

As we look at the universe today, it seems neither completely random nor completely deterministic. But fundamentally, is it one or the other? Is it even a valid question or a false dichotomy where determinism and randomness are complementary aspects of a deeper reality we don't yet understand.

Philosophically, this dichotomy where life seems to be. In a perfectly deterministic universe, free will becomes illusory. In a purely random one, our actions have no connection to outcomes. So perhaps the interplay between pattern and unpredictability, between what we can control and what we cannot, is what makes life interesting.