The Chaotic Life

Patterns and randomness in how we live

Dr. David Pincus is a licensed clinical psychologist and assistant professor of psychology at Chapman University in Orange, CA. See full bio

July 28, 2008

Chaos theory and Batman: Part III

And now for the third and final installment of our introduction to chaos, complexity and randomness as portrayed by the primary characters in the movie Batman.... Read More

July 28, 2008

Chaos Theory and Batman Part II

Okay, so where we left off in part I: we now know the basics of what chaos is, from "chaos theory," and we are wondering if this really relates to the character Joker, from the new Batman film. And on a broader level, I want to explore whether or not this type of chaos is bad, as people (Westerners at least) do typically think that chaos is bad. Is ‘deterministic chaos' like the force of the evil Joker, the bad Anarchist (there are good anarchists by the way - like Noam Chomsky)? Read More

July 21, 2008

Chaos Theory and Batman: The Dark Knight Part I

Anyone who knows the comic will know about the characters and what they represent: 1) The Joker = chaos, 2) The Batman = order; 3) Two Face = pure chance. There are many lines in the film which "spank your face" with these metaphors, and if the acting was not so good, the joker's lines could have easily been over the top in making the deeper, existential questions within the film too obvious and contrived for most moviegoers. Read More

July 15, 2008

Welcome to The Chaotic Life

Many of you will have heard of the concepts of: "Chaos Theory" "The Butterfly Effect" or maybe even "Emergence" "Fractals" "Complexity" or "Catastrophe" theories. Each of these is an example of a nonlinear dynamic. My challenge in this blog will be to make nonlinear dynamics understandable and interesting to you. My experience thus far has been that everything in psychology is a part of a nonlinear system. So we will be able to talk about nearly any topic here. That will help to keep things interesting. Read More

Books by Dr. David Pincus

Chaos and Complexity in Psychology: The Theory of Nonlinear Dynamical Systems

Imagery for Pain Relief: A Scientifically Grounded Guidebook for Clinicians

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