What is your view on the chaos theory??

Question

What is your view on the chaos theory??

Answer 1

It may one day unravel the mysteries of the universe.

Dawkins said it himself, even if there was a GOD, he would not know exactly when a uranium atom would begin to decay.

There is still a lot to this universe that is left to chance that we don't know.

Answer 2

In my opinion it is one of the quasi-wholist theories human mind has ever came up with.

Chaos theory coupled with system theories bring a very complete picture on many issues both in exact sciences and in social sciences and beyond.

Answer 3

Noctec and Andrew are spot on. Chaos theory has a lot to do with emergence, and one of the definitions of an "emergent property" is a property that is impossible or incredibly difficult to predict given its constituent parts.

Here is an example of an emergent property: phonons. In quantum physics all waves are associated with a particle and all particles are associated with a wave. Phonons are particles of sound -- however, it must be made clear that they don't "really" exist as anything other than a mathematical abstraction, but then again that's what many physical theories are, so we can skip the philosophy of science for right now and get to the point.

Take something like a metal, let's say aluminum. Just by looking at an aluminum atom you would never be able to guess that it's capable of this phenomenon of generating phonons. However, put a bunch of it together in a certain way (for instance, a tuning fork) and strike it, and it makes sound! If your knowledge is based from the bottom up you would never have been able to predict that it would have such an amazing property until you saw it happen.

That's emergence. Now consider that different emergent properties happen under the slightest changes of conditions.

Understand that and you'll get an extremely basic and simplified understanding of chaos theory in a sense.

Answer 4

I agree with Noctec.

Chaos theory is a way of explaining a huge change in results from a small change in variable.  Ian Malcolm from Jurassic Park was talking about something else.

Answer 5

My view is that you probably don't appreciate what chaos theory is.

Theories are not meant for people to have "views" on them, they are more like explanations for why something is the way it is.

Chaos theory explains why complex phenomena cannot be calculated in the long term.

It all started when  Lorenz tried to make a simple computer model of evaporation and condensation, ending up with a very complicated attractor image that looked vaguely like a butterfly. The idea is that simple processes may yield complex, hard to manage data that cannot be reasonably predicted. The measurements required for prediction are so small and precise as to be virtually unknowable. This is the nature of chaos.