The place where physics and the mind meet

Author: K.C. Cole
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2002-05-01
Features: The classical Newtonian mechanics paradigm already implies the notion of "causes cannot be determined for certain effects." When solving equations to predict climate, requiring only a few percent of accuracy can lead to the following problems: To predict the climate after twenty days, the precision of the initial conditions might need to reach dozens of decimal places, such as requiring temperature to be accurate to 0.1 degrees. This is not only impossible to achieve but also causes the following issue: A small butterfly in Brazil flaps its wings, and this movement, climatically speaking, is equivalent to changing the initial conditions slightly at the thirteenth decimal place of wind speed. As a result, the equation predicts that a major storm will occur in Qinghai, China, three weeks later.