BEHAVIOR (Chaotic)
Charles François (2004). BEHAVIOR (Chaotic), International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics, 2(1): 251.
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 251 ▶ |
| Object type | Methodology or model |
I. PRIGOGINE and I. STENGERS write: “A behavior is chaotic if trajectories outcoming from points as close as possible in the phases space, stray from each other in time in an exponential way”. (1992, p.77)
This implies that, after a sufficiently long span of time, it becomes impossible to predict future behavior relying solely on the initial conditions. The authors explain that only a more accurate knowledge of these may better the predictability of behavior, but that such knowledge will rapidly become prohibitive in costs and in time.
While this is an abstract view, it corresponds to our practical situation in front of complex systems and it strongly limits our possibilities to govern them.
See also
Lyapounov exponent