Economics Dictionary of ArgumentsHome | |||
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Alan Sokal on Chaos - Dictionary of Arguments
I 167 Chaos/Bricmont/Sokal: a (...) serious confusion arises from the fact that the mathematical chaos theory is confused with the truism that small causes can have a big effect. I 168 One constantly hears the assertion that chaos theory has been "applied" to history or society. SokalVs: Human societies, however, are complex systems that contain a large number of variables for which (at least at present) no meaningful equations can be established. Speaking of chaos here, that does not get us much further than the aforementioned truism. >Descriptions, >Analysis, >Theory, >Systems, >Structures, >Society, >Equations, >History, >Historiography._____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
Sokal I Alan Sokal Jean Bricmont Fashionabel Nonsense. Postmodern Intellectuals Abuse of Science, New York 1998 German Edition: Eleganter Unsinn. Wie die Denker der Postmoderne die Wissenschaften missbrauchen München 1999 Sokal II Alan Sokal Fashionable Nonsense: Postmodern Intellectuals’ Abuse of Science New York 1999 |