The Complexity of Dynamic Systems and the Fallacy of Predictability
The future state of complex dynamic systems, including the weather, the human brain, the stock market, evolution, and history itself, may differ from what we previously believed. It is an interesting implication of the field of mathematics we know as chaos theory. In particular, chaos theory argues that although complex systems may behave according to rules, their future state will always be unpredictable.
Complex system behavior is highly sensitive to its environment. Therefore, minor adjustments at first can lead to more enormous changes over time. Chaos theory states that the assumption that we can predict the future based on the past is wrong. As the scientist Niels Bohr said, the predictions are challenging, especially about the future. Along those lines, it is crucial and humorous because it serves as a reminder that our actions and those of others, as well as the biological and physical events that feed each other, determine the future rather than a future that exists independently of us and follows directly from the past.
In our world, causes are being turned into temporary consequences. Chaos theory states that “what is next” is inescapable for us. It is not easy to make future predictions.
Unraveling the Beauty of Chaos
“Chaos” comes from the Greek word ” kháos,” which means “gaping emptiness.” Chaos is complex for us to define but easy to recognize in practice. Then, chaos is a state of complete ambiguity or predictability in the behavior of complex natural systems. In chaos theory, a slight adjustment now may significantly impact later. It is a branch of mathematics with applications in many fields, including physics, engineering, economics, biology, and philosophy.
In essence, it implies minor variations in the initial conditions, such as those that cause rounding errors in the calculations. It can cause chaotic systems to show very different results, making long-term predictions generally unattainable for us. The study of complex nonlinear dynamical systems is what it is. The field of mathematics studies systems that exhibit chaotic behavior regardless of their appearance being orderly or deterministic.
In addition, it relates to systems that appear chaotic but still contain order. In other words, the system is not predictable to us, although it is deterministic. The phenomenon is known as “deterministic chaos.” Chaos theory has displayed the most amazing patterns, capturing some beauty we cannot predict.
Unveiling the Intricacies
If we look at it through the right lens, we can see nature as one of the most beautiful works of art that God has ever made. In chaos theory, reality exists in a state of ontological anarchy. Edward Norton Lorenz coined the concept of the “butterfly effect” in 1972, introducing the concept of chaos theory to the modern world. Complex systems will become more predictable if we understand the theory.
Consequently, we must know all the inputs and maintain control when dealing with the system. Chaos theory has applications in a wide range of scientific developments because it has the input of many mathematicians and scientists. Lorenz created a mathematical model to simulate how air travels through the atmosphere. As a result, the model results vary widely. With the introduction of computers in the 1970s, a multidisciplinary interest in chaos, complexity, and self-organizing systems emerged.
The uniqueness and evolution that we can recognize from any given trajectory in the system are implied by deterministic chaos. Therefore, we cannot predict. Altogether, one single trajectory we cannot predict for all possible future or past. Except for all the initial data, we know precisely. The probability of knowing exactly the initial data for one of the individual tracks is usually zero.
Sensitivity to Initial Conditions
Computer simulations show that the initial state of a complex system is susceptible. In repeated computer simulations of the weather, Lorenz found that even if the program’s starting point varied by only a few decimal places, the effect on the weather result was enormous. He claims that the movement of a butterfly’s wings in one place may impact weather patterns in another. We can never determine the initial conditions of a complex system with sufficient accuracy to allow precise behavior prediction.
In theory, measurements can never be accurate enough. Similarly, determining the initial conditions of a complex natural system will always depend on how accurate measuring instruments are and can never be as accurate. We might be perplexed as to how the behavior of a complex system could be so susceptible to the operations of a single subatomic particle. In 1905, Albert Einstein demonstrated how collisions with individual water molecules could explain the seemingly random motion of pollen grains suspended in water.
Although the motion of a particle is, in theory, deterministic, the forces acting on a particle can never be measured with precision, making it impossible to predict its direction. However, approximations work well for most reasons.
Interconnectedness and Feedback Loops
As a complex system evolves, each system iteration, cycle, or output generates a new state that feeds back to the system, further complicating matters. Many critical natural processes, including those involved in climate change, develop more slowly, as we are only beginning to realize. Instead, they turned inward, amplifying or dampening their impact and rerouting themselves.
Each iteration sets the context for the next iteration. According to Iain McGilchrist, events anywhere in the brain are connected and can potentially have consequences for other regions. The other territories can respond to, propagate, enhance, or expand on that initial event or alternatively. It fixes it somehow, hinders it, or tries to re-establish balance. Interactions between complex system components can occur at several system levels, resulting in empathetic multilevel relationships with one another.
Enrico Coen asserts that the interaction of our neurological system, muscles, skeleton, and lungs determines our breathing capacity. The type of mucus that lines the walls of our lungs determines how well they work. Proteins that carry chloride ions, which are negatively charged, determine the composition of the mucus. One component of an integrated system can change, and the results can be severe.
Embracing Complexity
Due to gene mutations, we need chloride transport, and patients with cystic fibrosis have difficulty breathing. Just one change of three mil base pairs can cause the disease in our genome. Everyone’s ability to function depends on successfully integrating the various components. The chaotic system became unstable because they could not withstand external disturbances and responded strongly to them instead.
Instead of ignoring outside forces, it influences them. Since there are no implicit probability processes in deterministic systems, several differential equations directly control them. A deterministic system is one in which change does not affect the occurrence of future states. However, experimental findings made it clear that chaotic systems were standard in the last three decades of the 20th century.
The heart and brain of living things, the solar system, and many other natural processes can all be categorized as chaos. Lack of periodic behavior, sensitivity to initial conditions, difficulty or impossibility in predicting chaotic motion, seemingly random motion, and nonlinearity are characteristics of chaotic systems. Chaotic systems are intricate to predict because of the many complex components involved.
Complex, chaotic systems can have complex solutions, and predicting future patterns is usually challenging.
Unraveling the Illusion
In gambling games, the sequence of numbers appears to be completely random. However, chaotic systems have high sensitivity to initial conditions, meaning small changes can produce different results. The system is unpredictable to us partly due to inherent sensitivity. For instance, objects in motion continue to be in motion, and objects at rest frequently remain at rest.
Light follows darkness, and one season replaces another. According to John Casti, we have structural stability, allowing life to exist on Earth and offering a high degree of predictability. For one thing, to happen, a series of events leading up to another event must occur first and follow the rules of cause and effect. Therefore, assuming that we cannot avoid the course of events is very tempting.
The viewpoint, which we know as determinism in philosophy, holds that although we cannot predict the future, it will still occur in an order that we can predict as the result of a series of events. With one thing mechanically causing another, it is not surprising that throughout most of human history, the patterns we observe led people to believe that the universe had an intelligent designer who had arranged it on purpose.
The Complexity of History
It also foreshadows every aspect of life’s journey that has gone ahead with the initial act of divine creation. Even today, science often continues to assume that fields with less clear-cut regularity and predictability will eventually be uncovered by more thorough investigation, accurate measurements, and strong mathematics. As Einstein said, God does not play dice with the universe.
However, chaos theory warns us that because large dynamical systems are susceptible to initial conditions, any attempt to run the system repeatedly will fail if there is the slightest deviation in the system’s initial conditions. Regardless of one thing still happening and the past shaping the future, that does not guarantee the result will be the same. History may be no more predictable to us than the future because the ability of complex systems to unfold depends on how sensitive they are to their natural conditions.
Like the future, the succession of past events will be as challenging for us to reconstruct as they are themselves, the result of chaotic behavior. The problem of rebuilding the past is entirely equivalent to the problem of building a future, even the near future. More precisely, they are the same challenge. In ordinary everyday language, the complexities of history make it difficult to imagine counterfactuals or what-if scenarios.
Historical Contingency
What if Kurt Cobain had not attempted suicide? Is not Dave Grohl going to form the Foo Fighters? Shall we never consider Nirvana’s influence and legacy to remain today and regard them as one of the most influential bands in music history? Cobain could undergo rehabilitation and get professional help to deal with his problems, including drug addiction. They may also perform a series of concerts celebrating Cobain’s return, embarking on a world tour that has received an overwhelming response from their fans.
Their new album will be a huge commercial success, they will probably collaborate with musicians such as Neil Young, Nirvana will explore various musical genres, and they will probably influence the development of grunge music to help popularize the genre worldwide. The fact that chaotic systems are susceptible to initial conditions does suggest some creativity in nature, for the sensitivity allows a kind of elbow room that creates space for the results of natural processes to be different.
In such a sense, historical contingency is as vital to evolution as natural selection. Historical circumstances can also influence natural rules. The participatory universe has a special meaning. It seems to imply that we are more closely related to the environment than we usually think, to the extent that we identify with our consciousness.
Beyond Order and Chaos
However, we are not finite, like other complex dynamical systems. Chaos theory has uncovered powerful natural phenomena that we have only begun to understand until now. Forecasters and all other types of experts are paid more because complex systems function deterministically. However, the consequences cannot be predicted. By arguing that order can contain the seeds of disorder and chaos can give rise to new kinds of order, the idea questions the conventional dichotomy between order and chaos.
Such a philosophical perspective promotes humility in our attempts to understand and manage complex systems by highlighting the importance of embracing complexity and ambiguity rather than seeking rigid, deterministic explanations. According to James Gleick, chaos theory rejects reductionism, celebrates complexity, and emphasizes the balance between order and chaos in nature.
In understanding life as we know it, one must first understand chaos. Even simple systems can display complex behaviors and act as models for them. It serves as a link between several disciplines. Implementing a model such as such requires simplification and might, for example, enforce time reversal as the mathematical framework of mechanics requires.
Bibliography
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- Golberger, A. L. (1996). Non-linear dynamics for clinicians: chaos theory, fractals, and complexity at the bedside. The Lancet, 347(9011), 1312-1314.
- Mandel, D. R. (1995). Chaos theory, sensitive dependence, and the logistic equation.
- Saltzstein, P. (2016). Chaos & An Unpredictable Tomorrow. Issue 144 | Philosophy Now.
