Chaos in Nature and Knowledge
Chaos has been described as inherent in the complexity of nature and of knowledge. The nature
side of chaos is composed of all the physical sciences, whilst the knowledge side of chaos
tackles the human sciences. Chaos is capable of changing itself in either form or function or
in both.
Chaos studies the interdependence of things in a far-from-equilibrium state. Every
open non-linear system that dissipates has some relationship to another open system and their
operations will intersect, overlap and converge. If the systems are sensitive to the initial
conditions, so that the exact detail of every little piece of information affects the result,
then you have a potentially chaotic system.
Not all systems are chaotic, but those where
infinite detail must be known, have an indeterminate quality about them, making them
unpredictable. If these systems are in anyway disrupted internally or externally, they will
display chaotic behaviour and this behaviour will be amplified microscopically and
macroscopically.
Next: So why is it called Chaos?
