Is there a fundamental limit to how accurately we can predict the future?
In short: Professor Chris Budd examines the tension between predictable systems like planetary motion and chaotic ones like the weather. This lecture explores whether our inability to forecast certain events stems from flawed modeling or inherent mathematical boundaries.
Since the era of Isaac Newton, science has successfully predicted phenomena such as tidal patterns and planetary orbits. However, complex systems like the stock market or long-term weather forecasts remain notoriously difficult to pin down.
The lecture, recorded on 9th October 2018, introduces chaos theory to explain this discrepancy. It highlights how minute initial variations can escalate into massive uncertainty over time, suggesting that some systems may be fundamentally unpredictable regardless of our modeling precision.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Can Maths Predict The Future? - Chris Budd
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