The power of unpredictability in the universe

How did we get here?

The following video argues that reflective equations postulated by Turing predicted the underlying chaotic nature. It also states how nature self organizes itself into beautiful patterns which seem to come from nowhere. I wonder if fractal patterns are also a manifestation of Turing’s predictions? [Although Benoit Mandelbrot discovered fractals.] I will introduce you to this fascinating video by quoting the words of Edward N. Lorenz.

Lorenz wrote:

“At one point I decided to repeat some of the computations in order to examine what was happening in greater detail. I stopped the computer, typed in a line of numbers that it had printed out a while earlier, and set it running again. I went down the hall for a cup of coffee and returned after about an hour, during which time the computer had simulated about two months of weather. The numbers being printed were nothing like the old ones. I immediately suspected a weak vacuum tube or some other computer trouble, which was not uncommon, but before calling for service I decided to see just where the mistake had occurred, knowing that this could speed up the servicing process. Instead of a sudden break, I found that the new values at first repeated the old ones, but soon afterward differed by one and then several units in the last decimal place, and then began to differ in the next to the last place and then in the place before that. In fact, the differences more or less steadily doubled in size every four days or so, until all resemblance with the original output disappeared somewhere in the second month. This was enough to tell me what had happened: the numbers that I had typed in were not the exact original numbers, but were the rounded-off values that had appeared in the original printout. The initial round-off errors were the culprits; they were steadily amplifying until they dominated the solution.” (E. N. Lorenz, The Essence of Chaos, U. Washington Press, Seattle (1993), page 134)

I invite you to view one of my favorite scientific videos

More about Alan Turing that you may care to know

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