On Thu, 25 Apr 2002, Ken Brown wrote:
> One of the classic examples of what is now called "chaos" (a word that I > don't like in this context). The exact trajectory taken by simple models Uhuh... > of predator-prey systems is often very sensitively dependent on initial > conditions. Of course in real life these things are stochastic anyway Then I take it you don't like 'stochastic' since they really mean the same thing in this context. At least one of the variables in the system -must- be modeled as some sort of (P)RNG. False distinction (see hand waving below) > so the variables in your model should actually be probability > distributions, which makes the sums much harder and leads to > considerable handwaving. unpredictabilty <> hand waving. -- ____________________________________________________________________ The law is applied philosophy and a philosphical system is only as valid as its first principles. James Patrick Kelly - "Wildlife" [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.ssz.com [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.open-forge.org --------------------------------------------------------------------