Does Chaos Rule the Cosmos?

Discover ^ | November 1992 | Ian Stewart

[phoenix0468]

Science has long been based on the notion that law and order rule the universe. When primitive people looked at the sky, they could make sense of what they saw only by attributing it to the whims of powerful gods. But in the sixteenth century the German astronomer Johannes Kepler reduced the motion of the planets to three simple laws that guided them along elliptical orbits. His work led Isaac Newton to discover a law of gravitation that applied to any object in the universe.

The universe, scientists subsequently assumed, is a predictable, clockwork system. Some parts are more complex than others--the workings of a swirling galaxy, for example, are rather more intricate than those of a pendulum--but directing even the most complex part is the same rule of order, though it may be imperceptible to our limited brain power. Simple causes always produce simple effects, the reasoning went, and complexity must result either from complicated rules or from the interaction of large numbers of things. Thus the simple geometric shape of a planet’s orbit--an ellipse--was seen as a direct consequence of the simplicity of the law of gravity, while the complexity of the DNA molecule was considered a consequence of the huge number of ways in which its atoms could be arranged.

[phoenix0468]

I do realize this article is quite old, but I think it has relavence to the discussions of the day.

[SunkenCiv]

Excerpt is boring, but the article is so-so. :') A more pertinent quote for the list:

Many evolutionary biologists and paleontologists believe that the fossil evidence available to us suggests natural evolution proceeds in fits and starts. But many of them have assumed that external catastrophes, such as asteroid impacts and climate changes, were responsible. In artificial life, these fits and starts seem to be inevitable--but still puzzling-- consequences of the general features of evolution. Artificial life also seems to say to us that there is a natural propensity for evolving systems- -be they biospheres or cyberspheres--toward more complexity and organization.

"Maybe the universe is a hologram." -- Pribram

[ckilmer]

the trouble with the law of entropy as applied to living things is that we live in a world that constanly has more energy added to it from the sun.

[johnny7]

I prefer to think of it as... organized-chaos...

[AndrewC]

the trouble with the law of entropy as applied to living things is that we live in a world that constanly has more energy added to it from the sun.

[ckilmer]

not bad for gobmint work

should be skunk you know rather than an armadillo/possum.

[Phsstpok]

Not chaos, KAOS

 

and it's not the Craw, it's the Craw!

[JWinNC]

LOL