Chaos theory

[bennyboy]

Can anyone else come up with an example of small change resulting in larger results?

#1. Human existence, starting with human reproduction.

The specific genetic makeup of an organism that lives maybe 80 years and has the intelligence to interact to and mold its environment is hanging on a nano-trigger. The fluid dynamics of the semen, including the pulse strength of the vein in the penis, the specific timings of the vagina's secretions and movements, etc, are so hopelessly complex that you could NEVER fully encapsulate the "initial conditions." At best, you can make statistical predictions, like given the parent's DNA, the offspring will have x% of scoring over 140 on IQ tests, and pretend that you have therefore imposed your will on chaos. But that's an illusion.

And that's just the moment of conception that determines the DNA. It doesn't even include things like significant events, the effect of gravity of the moon (and maybe of other planets in orbit) etc. etc. Nor does it include all the possible actions of 7 billion other humans, and their affect on our sample individual's beliefs and behaviors. Nor does it include the chance that the person will be "special" and develop a new technology: cold fusion, maybe, or a device that allow men to understand what women are talking about.

Is the universe ultimately deterministic, in the sense that the universe is a purely physicalist system with only one outcome t2 arising from any given state at time t1? A big-M MAYBE. Is all this deterministic in the sense that we can make meaningful predictions about how a fetus will develop, and what kind of life it will have when it graduates high school. No.

#2. Failed RAM
The failure of RAM is random as far as we can determine, and unpredictable. But the failure of just one nano-transistor could in theory change someone's life. In the case of a military system, it could involve the death of people who would not otherwise have died.