Since the age of Descartes, science has put all of its eggs in the basket of determinism, the idea that with accurate enough measurements any aspect of the universe could be predicted. But the universe, it turns out, is not so tidy.
AI Summary
# Summary
This Stuff You Should Know episode dives deep into chaos theory, exploring how scientists discovered that the universe is far less predictable than centuries of mathematical laws suggested. Starting with Newton's revolutionary determinism and tracing through Poincaré's groundbreaking work on the three-body problem, Josh and Chuck explain how Edward Lorenz accidentally stumbled upon the famous butterfly effect while studying weather patterns on a Royal McBee computer in the 1960s. The episode reveals how Lorenz's famous attractor graph—which looks like butterfly wings—showed that tiny differences in initial conditions can lead to wildly different outcomes, fundamentally challenging our understanding of order and predictability in nature.
Event Horizon
1997
1h 36m
★ 6.6
"Have you ever seen Event Horizon? I did, not bad. Great movie, are you crazy? — Josh uses Event Horizon as an example of chaos theory in fiction, comparing it to Lovecraftian horror in outer space."
— Josh
Forrest Gump
1994
2h 22m
★ 8.5
"It's like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get. You have to say it. Imitate Forrest Gump? — Chuck references the famous Forrest Gump quote when discussing the Smale Horseshoe concept of randomness."
— Chuck
Garden State
2004
1h 42m
★ 7.1
"I just want to punch it in the face. Terrible. Although I like garden state, but I haven't seen it since it came out. — Josh and Chuck discuss Garden State as an overly whimsical film that hasn't aged well."
— Josh
Jurassic Park
1993
2h 7m
★ 8.0
"I think about Jurassic Park and Jeff Goldblum as the creep, Dr. Malcolm explaining chaos in the little auto driving SUV. — Josh references the famous chaos theory explanation scene from Jurassic Park as an example of how Hollywood explained chaos theory."
— Josh
Me and You and Everyone We Know
2005
R
1h 31m
★ 7.0
"Have you ever seen me, you and everyone I know? Yeah. Love that movie. Those little kids in there doing that. — Chuck and Josh discuss Me and Everyone I Know as an example of a perfectly balanced whimsical film."
— Chuck
Revolutionary Road
2008
1h 59m
★ 7.0
"Did you see Revolutionary Road? Yes, God. It was just like, yeah, you want to jump off a bridge and see that movie. — Josh describes Revolutionary Road as an intensely dark and depressing film by Sam Mendes."
— Josh
Road to Perdition
2002
1h 57m
★ 7.3
"That was a good Tom Hanks movie that was overlooked, a road to perdition. — Josh mentions Road to Perdition as an underrated Tom Hanks film."
— Josh
Skyfall
2012
2h 23m
★ 7.3
"He did the James Bond. He did Skyfall. Yeah, yeah, I know. — Chuck mentions Skyfall when discussing director Sam Mendes' filmography."
— Chuck
The Butterfly Effect
2004
R
1h 53m
★ 7.6
"We're getting to a lot of movies today. Oh yeah. We're stalling. We haven't even talked about butterfly effect yet, which is coming. It is. I'm dreading it. — Chuck mentions The Butterfly Effect as a movie related to chaos theory that they plan to discuss."
— Chuck
WarGames
1983
1h 54m
★ 7.1
"Joshua was the software, Falcon was the old man who designed all the stuff and his son was Joshua and that was the password. — Chuck discusses the computer system and password from WarGames in relation to early supercomputer technology."
— Chuck
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