Chaos Theory

Nature uses only the longest threads to weave her patterns, so each small piece of her fabric reveals the organization of the entire tapestry.

—Richard Feynman, The Character of Physical Law [Feynman, 1994, p. 28]

How can structure emerge from chaos? Why isn’t everything just “noise”? And how does “complexity” differ from “chaos”?

Example

Imagine a droplet of honey falling into a bowl of yogurt. After you stirred the yogurt a few times, circles of long threads of honey emerge. Some more st...