Comments on: Scientists Crochet Chaos! http://www.sundriesshack.com/2004/12/18/scientists-crochet-chaos/ Delivering the Best of the New Media Since 2004. Mon, 14 May 2012 14:27:23 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Jimmiehttp://www.sundriesshack.com/2004/12/18/scientists-crochet-chaos/comment-page-1/#comment-1131 Jimmie Mon, 20 Dec 2004 14:48:55 +0000 /?p=1220#comment-1131 You're my go-to guy and I shamelessly exploit the fact that if I get an explanation near the hole, you'll be able (nay, compelled!) to putt it in! If you had to pick the neatest or perhaps the application most immediately observed by the common mook like me, what would it be? You're my go-to guy and I shamelessly exploit the fact that if I get an explanation near the hole, you'll be able (nay, compelled!) to putt it in!

If you had to pick the neatest or perhaps the application most immediately observed by the common mook like me, what would it be?

]]> By: Mr. Science Guyhttp://www.sundriesshack.com/2004/12/18/scientists-crochet-chaos/comment-page-1/#comment-1130 Mr. Science Guy Mon, 20 Dec 2004 14:30:02 +0000 /?p=1220#comment-1130 Argh--I hate it when you're right, Jimmie. In this case, what you're right about is that I'm physically unable to resist correcting your explanation. The good news is, there are just a few details to change in your outline. Most important is that the Lorenz equations aren't specifically designed to show you all the possibilities. They're an attempt to model (or predict) chaotic (or unpredictable) behavior. (And that sentence shows just how hard it is to translate math into English. It's not 100% prediction, and it's also not 100% unpredictable; chaos theory is about finding predictable patterns in a sea of unpredictable data.) The Lorenz equations are useful as a tool in that effort, because they generate that class of not-quite-random data, and they can be used to model quite a few kinds of chaos. I'm not going to go into all the interesting properties and behaviors of those equations, because whole books are written on the subject. Anyway--your rough example regarding all the places where a leaf might end up (all possible outcomes for a given system), falls more into the field of probability and applied statistics. Chaos theory is a way of determining what the probabilities are, for a given outcome--in other words, all the possible paths a leaf might take, to get to the same place. Even now, I'll admit that I'm not doing justice to the subject, but I can only do so much writing on my lunch break.... Argh–I hate it when you're right, Jimmie. In this case, what you're right about is that I'm physically unable to resist correcting your explanation.

The good news is, there are just a few details to change in your outline. Most important is that the Lorenz equations aren't specifically designed to show you all the possibilities. They're an attempt to model (or predict) chaotic (or unpredictable) behavior. (And that sentence shows just how hard it is to translate math into English. It's not 100% prediction, and it's also not 100% unpredictable; chaos theory is about finding predictable patterns in a sea of unpredictable data.) The Lorenz equations are useful as a tool in that effort, because they generate that class of not-quite-random data, and they can be used to model quite a few kinds of chaos. I'm not going to go into all the interesting properties and behaviors of those equations, because whole books are written on the subject.

Anyway–your rough example regarding all the places where a leaf might end up (all possible outcomes for a given system), falls more into the field of probability and applied statistics. Chaos theory is a way of determining what the probabilities are, for a given outcome–in other words, all the possible paths a leaf might take, to get to the same place.

Even now, I'll admit that I'm not doing justice to the subject, but I can only do so much writing on my lunch break….

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