Chaos Is Everywhere.

Have you ever heard of the three body problem? On the off-chance that you read Chinese science fiction, you may have read the best-selling novel by Liu Cixin on the topic. But if not, I’ll give a simple summary: imagine three celestial bodies of roughly equal size. For the sake of simplicity, let’s just say they’re stars. Now, systems of two similarly sized celestial bodies can form a stable, predictable orbital cycle. In fact, this is observed quite regularly in binary star systems. Even systems of higher multiplicity have been observed to be stable, so long as they are “hierarchical” (of differing size). A good example of such a system is that of the earth, moon, and sun, wherein the significant distance and mass differences between the three bodies has allowed for a significantly longer period of stability between the orbits of the three bodies. However, when all are on the same scale, there is no general closed-form solution to predict the orbit from any given starting conditions. Their orbital pattern is chaotic.

Allow this fact to sink in. In an ideal perfect vacuum with three bodies of equal mass–an exceedingly idealized system–our understanding of physics still crumbles before chaos. With all the power and elegance of our laws of physics, they cannot seem to overcome these number of instances in which the small change in the system has resounding consequences on the system as a whole. The complexity of the world simply dwarfs the scope of the incredible precision of physics, like trying to understand the Mona Lisa using a microscope. This is a simple example of the fundamental limits of Physics, as well as the reason that broader, less precise fields of scientific thought are necessary. Physics is at its most useful when it is applied to an isolated process in a larger system. The fact that the laws of physics are the most precise descriptors of the natural world is compromised by its sheer complexity and the degree of influence that the most infinitesimal disturbance can exert on it. In essence, Physics’ precision is both its greatest strength and its greatest weakness.