blankThe latest example: I'm currently reading The Time Traveler's Wife. At one point, Clare (lead female) asks Henry (lead male) what the opposite of determinism is. Henry replies, "Chaos."
Uh, no.
Determinism: (a) a theory or doctrine that acts of the will, occurrences in nature, or social or psychological phenomena are causally determined by preceding events or natural laws (b) a belief in predestination (from m-w.com)
Chaos: the inherent unpredictability in the behavior of a complex natural system (as the atmosphere, boiling water, or the beating heart) (from m-w.com)
According to Chaos Theory, seemingly random systems have a higher underlying order. What appears as completely random and unpredictable behaviour isn't. Some closed chaotic systems are deterministic, meaning that if we could measure to an accuracy of infinity the starting conditions of the system, we would be able to predict exactly the state of the system through time. Unfortunately, because of physical limitations, we cannot measure the initial conditions of the systems to the degree of accuracy required, and so our predictions for the exact state of the system through time break down.
BUT chaos is not about disorder -- in fact, it's just the opposite. Chaotic systems might appear unpredictable, but their behaviour is still governed by equations (complex and nonlinear, to be sure, but equations nonetheless).
The most commonly held misconception about chaos theory is that chaos theory is about disorder. Nothing could be further from the truth! Chaos theory is not about disorder! It does not disprove determinism or dictate that ordered systems are impossible; it does not invalidate experimental evidence or claim that modelling complex systems is useless.
The "chaos" in chaos theory is order--not simply order, but the very ESSENCE of order.
It is true that chaos theory dictates that minor changes can cause huge fluctuations. But one of the central concepts of chaos theory is that while it is impossible to exactly predict the state of a system, it is generally quite possible, even easy, to model the overall behavior of a system. Thus, chaos theory lays emphasis not on the disorder of the system--the inherent unpredictability of a system--but on the order inherent in the system--the universal behavior of similar systems.
-- From the Chaos Home Page (emphasis mine)