2. Scientific Definition
• The name "chaos theory"
comes from the fact that
the systems that the
theory describes are
apparently disordered,
but chaos theory is really
about finding the
underlying order in
apparently random data.
3. The more strategic on the inside, the more
random it looks on the outside.
Beauty on the inside; ugly on the outside.
Chaos all over the place, but following the
dots is still possible.
4. Scientific Definition #2: Butterfly Effect
Scientific Faith
• “The flapping of a single
butterfly's wing today
produces a tiny change in the
state of the atmosphere. Over
a period of time, what the
atmosphere actually does
diverges from what it would
have done. So, in a month's
time, a tornado that would
have devastated the
Indonesian coast doesn't
happen. Or maybe one that
wasn't going to happen, does.”
-Ian Stewart
5. Strategic Randomness
• Comic book character, Deadpool,
known for his insanity and ability
to be “aware” he’s in a comic
book, is also adept at martial
arts, being unpredictable due to
being crazy as well as chaotic
and improvised. Random fighting
style, but ironic because he
knows what he’s doing despite
the chaos.
6. Seinfeld
• Show about nothing:
random factors
intersecting and
influencing the
outcome of each
episode.
• Really a show about
everything: random
factors allowing for
variety of subjects.
7. Frogger Theory
• In the episode the Frogger,
George Costanza wants an old
arcade machine with his high
score from a closing pizzeria.
Eccentric friend Kramer has
police tape he somehow
obtained. He runs out of police
tape throughout the episode,
using it on random things like
sanctioning off a perimeter
where he dropped an egg.
Eventually, George needs a
battery so he can move it across
the street to plug it in. George’s
team to help him instead wear
out the battery and George has
to ironically move the machine
through traffic to get to the
other side.
8. Batman Theory
• From a criminal’s point
of view, they would
never have expected a
man to devote all the
time, costume, utility
belt, a car and a theme
of crime fighting to the
lifestyle of catching
them. All random to
them, but ironic in that
they know it’s all
designed with them in
mind.
9. Batman 1989
• In the film, the Joker puts
toxins in various makeup
and hygiene products, with
the poison effective if only
the right products are used
together. News anchors are
the first to experience the
toxic makeup. Joker even
makes a commercial
‘warning’ about the
products. Batman figures
out the random
combinations by implying
that he’s “going shopping.”
The irony is in the effect
the drugs have on the
victims: a lethal smile.
10. The Dark Knight
• In the 2008 film, The Dark Knight,
the antagonist Joker claims he
just does things, implying
randomness in his actions, but
every scene he steals the
limelight by using irony. First he
steals a bank and has his
henchman kill each other to
cover his tracks; that was
randomly strategic. Second, he
crashes a mob meeting and
comes out alive by attaching
grenades to the inside of his
mob-purchased coat, making the
mobsters behave themselves as
Joker gave them multiple reasons
to kill him.
11. Jurassic Park
• In the film Jurassic Park,
character Ian Malcolm, who
calls himself a “chaotician”
instead of a mathematician,
preaches against the
engineering of dinosaurs for
an amusement park and
predicts its downfall. A
tropical storm and a
computer programmer’s theft
of dinosaur embryos
contribute to Malcolm’s chaos
theory about Jurassic Park’s
inevitable failure.
12. Pros and Cons
• Military tactics: confuse the enemy with fake
craziness.
• Bad guys are more intimidated by good guys
who are more rebellious than they are. More
rebellious by being unorthodox in crime
fighting philosophy.
• Beware that the bad guys are interested as
well. Responsibility of the good guys to be
better strategized.
