Chaos Theory: An Introduction

The idea of chaos can be traced back to ancient Greek, Egyptian and Chinese philosophy. Chaos in ancient thinking was regarded as the birthplace of the cosmos. In the 20th Century chaos returned as a critical concept with the decline of metaphysics and the fundamental critique of science (Schirmacher, 1989).

The most important work foreshadowing the field of chaos studies was done by a late 19th Century French mathematician, Poincare who also first introduced the principle of relativity. Other predecessors included Lewin (considered as the founder of social psychology), Thom (the founder of catastrophe theory) and most significantly Lorenz, who in 1962 discovered the existence of chaotic structures, referred to as "strange attractors", in weather patterns (Hudson, 1999).

However the field of chaos theory developed its identity in the 1970s when the mathematician and biologist, Robert May suggested that seemingly simple equations may represent very complicated dynamics (Hudson, 1999). This concept was first introduced by Alan Turing, when in 1954 he proposed mathematical equations to illustrate the formation of patterns and morphogenesis.

Chaos Theory in its inception was developed to deal specifically with systems characterised by the mathematical notion of "chaos". Chaos, in this sense, refers to "systems which can be found at an intermediate point in the continuum which ranges from the completely periodic and predictable to the totally random, and in which there is a type of order which never exactly replicates itself" (Hudson, 1999).

As chaos theory developed, the approach has been applied to a range of complex, dynamic, and non-linear systems which do not technically qualify as representing the narrow mathematical notion of chaos. This broader field has been variously referred to as non-equilibrium theory, self-organisation theory, nonlinear dynamics or complex adaptive systems, each which "have typically attempted to integrate what is known of the three major classes of processes: deterministic, chaotic and random" (Hudson, 1999).

The most extensive applications of chaos theory have been in the physical and biological sciences, less so in medicine, and in economics, psychology, sociology and conflict resolution studies. While chaotic properties are believed to take part in all major categories of systems (conservative, dissipative and quantum) most work has focused on chaos in dissipative systems, "of which biological and social systems are prime examples" (Hudson 1999). Chaos theory "represent a recognition of the limitations of Newtonian, linear scientific paradigm when applied to complex systems" (Hendrick, 2009).

Hudson (1999) stated that although "enthusiasts for chaos theory have gone as far as to argue that the 20th Century has seen three major scientific revolutions -- relativity, quantum, and most recently, chaos theory -- ... much of social work research continues to draw heavily from GST and even older paradigms". He remains critical that even though chaos theory has received attention in related disciplines, discussion of chaos theory in social work literature is almost non-existent.

I will consider in more detail how chaos theory and its concepts have developed and been applied in social work and related disciplines in further posts. However, in order to have a firmer foundation of what chaos theory is, in my next post I will outline key concepts.