Has chaos theory found any useful application in the social sciences?
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There is a book you might like to read. Here's a blurb about it from the link below. You can it it cheaper at Amazon.com\n\nChaos Theory in the Social Sciences Paperback\nChaos Theory in the Social Sciences, Foundations and Applications\n\nChaos Theory in the Social Sciences: Foundations and Applications offers the most recent thinking in applying the chaos paradigm to the social sciences. The book explores the methodological techniques -- and their difficulties -- for determining whether chaotic processes may in fact exist in a particular instance and examines implications of chaos theory when applied specifically to political science, economics, and sociology. The contributors to the book show that no single technique can be used to diagnose and describe all chaotic processes and identify the strengths and limitations of a variety of approaches. The essays in this volume consider the application of chaos theory to such diverse phenomena as public opinion, the behavior of states in the international arena, the development of rational economic expectations, and long waves. \n\nhttp://www.shop.com/op/aprod-p39450192?sourceid=13
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I'm not sure what you are looking for but I will have a stab at it.\n1.A butterfly chain is a piece of jewellery the second two links will tell you more with pictures.\n2.If you mean the butterfly effect, it is a phrase that encapsulates the more technical notion of sensitive dependence on initial conditions in chaos theory. Small variations of the initial condition of a dynamical system may produce large variations in the long term behavior of the system. This is sometimes presented as esoteric behavior, but can be exhibited by very simple systems: for example, a ball placed at the crest of a hill might roll into any of several valleys depending on slight differences in initial position.
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Maybe. Ok folks, this is always a touchy matter and I don't want to step on anyone's sensitivities. If I do, I appologize.\n \nFasten your seatbelt and prepare for trippin'. This is a theory I've developed and been toying arond with based on my little knowlege of social biology and Discovery Channel watching (specially the altruistic acts of some rodents that commit mass suicide).\n \nImagine a fish tank that can support a population of 100 adult fishes and you put a couple in it.\n \nTo predict its population, you could borrow from physics, the Simple Harmonic Motion model (damped, critically damped or overdamped). But sometimes, the system might assume a chaotic behavior. This is described in a book by James Gleick about the history of the chaos theory and its development.\n \nWell, according to this, the tanks population can reach well over 100 fast and then, almost all fishes would die and the population would reach zero or nearly zero. Only to grow again and restart the whole process. So instead of reaching 100 in a well behaved manner, it would become a chaotic system and risk extinction of that population, since everytime it drops drastically, it could easily be wiped out by mere chance that the few fishes get killed by other causes than over population.\n  \nOkay, that was the math part. Now imagine that nature equips species with a dampning mechanism that could be switched on and off as populational pressure increases. As the population increases and approaches 100, more and more fishes would become gay as a mean of birth control. In the event that that population be drasticaly reduced (by a plague for example) some of the gay fish could reverse back to straight and assure the survival of the species. You could say that gayness is the fertility stocked.\n \nIt would be interesting to observe if gay people have reverted back to staight after huge populational drops (and after the cause has gone away). For example, after the tsunami's wake has diminished and routine is somewhat restored, some local populations will still be very smaller than before the tradegy. Some might be endangered of extinction. It will be interesting to observe if there will be a reversal as my little theory predicts. \n \nThere's more social biology than math in this, but it only works with the chaotic process in mind.\n \n \n____________________\nAnswer to Emilyrose's edit:\nEmily, I picked-up the population-conditional behavior idea from some documentary I've seen some 20 or 25 yrs ago (yeah, I'm old) which, unfortunatly I really can't remember or vouch for. What I remember was a segment with lab rats, in which they observed the exact same thing I'm using: they start out with a cage with a small population that can easily survive in its space and food and rations available. The rats displayed heterosexual behavior. After the population is drastically increased, they all become homosexual (your observation of a would be binary transition is not addressed here). It did not discuss the possibility of reversion, either. \n \nThe trasition can be considered reasonable if you make an analogy to your fruit fly example: not all fruit flies change sex at once. Something simillar happens with guppies, if there are no males, one or two females change sex. But I don't think the go back afterwards.\n \nFinnaly, as to you're last observation, that if an individual with homosexual tendencies would not pass it on, that doesn't matter if you consider a social biology framework. (I know it's frowned upon and even it's proponent backed out, but that's only b/c they cut off his grants.) Suppose (for the sake of it) that the gay behavior is controlled by one or more genes that can switch on and off. My theory, is that a gene pool that had these set of genes would be in advantage in comparison to one that didn't.\n \nOne more thing, so that ppl won't think I'm advocating anything: my swi
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos_theory
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It is unlikely you will find a reliable answer.  The Farmer's Almanac may help because it uses data from  many years to predict typical weather for a period of time.  The relatively new field of Chaotic Math uses a butterfly as its logo, because just the flapping of a butterfly's wings would be enough to upset long-range predictions of weather given initially perfect data.  The effect was discovered when long range weather forcasts were being studied on a super-computer that sometimes trunkated "unnecessary decimal places."  Congratulations and I hope you have great weather.
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Yes. Try the evolutionary point of view. Many psychological and sociological events take a better light, too.
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Doug North's "Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance" will be essential to understanding where the field has gone recently.  It's much more concrete than Stiglitz' "Globalization", which, while interesting, carries a lot of opinionizing among the little bit of theory.  North is considered the premier authority on institutions in the academic world today.  I've also attached a reading list from one of the recent events in the field, and it's pretty comprehensive.\n\nThose should keep you busy for a while.  :)
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Chaos theory describes nonlinear dynamic systems that under certain conditions exhibit a phenomenon known as: chaos. The idea is that even having known the initial state, there is a certain determination of randomness to be made.\n\n Entropy, as it could relate to Chaos Theory would be the measurement of the quantity of information in a given random variable. However, the law of entropy - describes the point where the amount of free energy available is zero. Which still relates in a broad sense.\n\n That is about as nutshell as I can get it without oversimplifying it.
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Quantitative methodologies... statistical analysis?   How many pages allowed on here... there are books and books about it... try reading literature on the above... infinite (well almost!) sources available on line, at the library and in book shops
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Yes, very much in the following years. Cognitive science has much to its credit already. Among other accomplishments, it has given rise to models of human cognitive bias and risk perception, and has been influential in the development of behavioral finance, part of economics. It has also given rise to a new theory of the philosophy of mathematics, and many theories of artificial intelligence, persuasion and coercion. It has made its presence firmly known in philosophy of language and epistemology - a modern revival of rationalism - as well as constituting a substantial wing of modern linguistics.
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There are randomness in independent events. But there is no randomness in a set of data. Chaos theory suggests that every random or chaotic set of data is actually in some order. If you are trying to pick a bead from a bag that contains 6 different colors of beads, you can say that the color you pick is random. But if you do it 100 times, then you can say that there is an order and the set of data is not completely random.
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Are you high?\nIf not try reading Hawkins or books on the theory of chaos where you could find even more exciting things about the universe.\nGood luck and have fun!
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Yes, based on polling data, civil unrest, interpersonal moods, etc.\n\nSomeone wrote a scholarly work on that, just a few months ago. I don't remember the person's name, but they were interviewed on the Daily Show. The book had a big "J" on the cover, and dealt with the ways to measure the stability of a society, relative to its current political and social climate.
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Mandelbrot developed the mathematics for fractals by studying many different practical applications.  For example, "noise on telephone lines, games theory, linguistics, economy, cosmology, turbulence" (from the link below).
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No, but in the American Heritage Dictionary I found this:\n\nCybernetics:  The theoretical study of communication and control processes in biological, mechanical, and electronic systems, especially the comparison of these processes in biological and artificial systems.
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Mathematics in medicine starts with enzyme kinetics, introducing the ideas of the Law of Mass Action, nondimensionalisation, and perturbation analysis. It also briefly introduces autocatalysis, and cooperative reactions. A pregnancy testing kit can be mathematically modelled and analysed: this will introduce the use of Laplace transforms in partial differential equations and asymptotic results. The vascular system can be discussed and solutions for pusatile blood flow will be derived. This in turn can be applied in the analysis of a catheter in the pulmonary artery which is heated one degree above blood temperature. Knowing the power input we deduce the cardiac output. Finally Infectious diseases can be discussed. In particular the SIR model is dealt with; this is followed by an analysis of a sexually transmitted disease and then the spread of rabies is considered.\n\nDavid Bernoulli was famous for his mathematics applied to medicine
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The abstract study of dynamics is a world of mathematical\n   option coming of age.  Four come to mind that are interesting.\n   Chemistry the true relative quantum isotopic atomic servers.\n    Deregulation of the pollutants, actions never precedent.\n    Solid fuel for lite weight energy force distributions noncarbon.\n    Dynamics within resolutions response times unlimited space.\n    Any mentions of resolving an invention folder makes the act\n    of mathematics the candidate to be accurate in a blank palate.\n    Example one.  In the distress of giga junctions of raw create\n    the number of losses is proportional to the movements of the\n    disproportional active molecular redemanded.  1 equals 3\n    in hiv, rmz, other infections so why do the remaining have no\n    complements to adhere the tribute effectives. Showing that\n    they are the product dialing cross generic and solvency sweep\n    shoring 3.1 equals circumference times 1.2 the infective active\n    from non-directive suspended atomic molecular core solution.\n    Where 1.5 plus 2.5 are record all repairs or dominant genes\n     losing generic and upper gradients in moving within atomic \n     fields at 3.5 or 7.5 limits of pie.  To find data in this study is\n     open and immediate in pro-evolving positrons.