# 'Chaos Theory'- Possible? Plausible? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 17, 2001, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chaos-theory-possible-plausible/72861 "2001-07-17T22:57:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Ring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ring)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2001, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chaos-theory-possible-plausible/72861/21 "2001-07-19T04:07:07Z")
> [@](#): > > What you’re asking, Whack-a-Mole, is whether the Universe is deterministic. Scientifically, the best answer we can give is that there’s no way we’ll ever be able to know. Does a particle “really” have a definite position and momentum? No way to tell, if you can’t measure that “real” position and momentum. What we do know, is that to the limits of our knowledge, we can’t predict it. What you say may ultimately be true but it’s not what present theory says. Conjugate variables do not **possess** both a defined position and momentum or energy time etc. It has nothing to do with the measuring apparatus. > [@](#): > > The kindest thing you can say is that Crichton confused Chaos Theory with Murphy’s Law. Thank you Finagle that pretty much sums a scientifically stupid movie. Which is pretty poorly acted and scripted also. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2001, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chaos-theory-possible-plausible/72861/22 "2001-07-19T05:00:25Z")
For general reference: Crichton often gets the names and a few basic concepts of his science bits right then, willfully or through ignorance, severely misuses them. From that portion of his work I’ve read, I consider him a victim and would-be vector of the Frankenstein Complex. The sad thing is that if he were to write real science fiction instead of antiscience fiction, he might possibly make a decent author. I hate to see potential wasted. BTW: the sequel setup from the _Jurassic Park_ novel (which, while bad, was far better than the movie) involved circumstantial evidence that _something_ was raiding bean fields (beans being a good source of lysine, apparently) along a vector that matched the proposed migratory path of the raptors. It’s also worth noting that the book _opened_ with a smaller dinosaur already on the mainland. ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2001, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chaos-theory-possible-plausible/72861/23 "2001-07-19T14:01:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tapioca Dextrin \* > **No, Chaos theory only applies to complex systems. That means stuff like cream swirling in coffe or fluffy clouds in the sky. It has nothing to do with complicated systems. That’s down to bad management practices - like why not just neuter those dinos? Or why not build 50 foot high concrete fences? That is stupidity theory, not Chaos theory.** In addition to what **Homer** says about the application of chaos theory, I think what Crichton was getting at is that the genetic manipulation they were trying had far too many variables for them to be confident of the outcome. When I read the book, I took it to mean that the mathematician was ridiculing their belief that they had created fool-brief genetic controls. ---
**Author:** ![akitaking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@akitaking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akitaking)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2001, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chaos-theory-possible-plausible/72861/24 "2001-07-20T04:59:15Z")
Another movie many of you may have already seen, “Pi”, is about a mathematician (or rather, a numeralogist?) who looks into the chaos of the stock market to find a pattern–and a formula–that can predict stock prices. Of course the story is fiction (including a constant of 216-or-so digits that can be used to decode Jewish mysticism in the Torah!), so maybe it’s kind of an insult to mathematicians who really are doing chaos theory. But I really enjoyed the movie–the dialogues, soundtrack, and high-contrast black and white cinematography…please check it out if you like. ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Cool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecb155/32.png) [@Joe\_Cool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Cool)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2001, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chaos-theory-possible-plausible/72861/25 "2001-07-20T14:26:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by msmith537 \* > **I think he was saying that if the variables are just right, you end up with a great movie like Jurasic Park. If you try to repeat the experiment you end up with the mediocre Jurasic Park 2 or even worse, Godzilla.** I think you’re on to something here! Then after realizing their mistake, 2 years later the programmers re-input the initial conditions to better precision, and the result was Godzilla 2000, which kicked major ass. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chaos-theory-possible-plausible/72861.md?page=1)