voice;

[whethertheyshould]

I'm sure you're all aware, ah, of the perilous nature of the situation we're all in here. The question becomes, if we're unable to do anything but comply, what is the nature of our compliance? Does Jorgmund really think we're going to give everything our all at all times with the methods they use for securing our compliance?

I'm not good at doing that.

In any case, I suppose some introductions are in order. I'm Ian Malcolm. I'm your local chaotician, which means I am pretty good at predicting when things are about to go wrong.

I'm sure I just painted a big red target on my back but at this point I'm finding it hard to care.

Comments

[whethertheyshould]

You've hit the proverbial nail on the head. Do you know much about the field?

[vampthropologist]

Only what I've read in the journals. I'm more along the lines of an anthropologist myself, although it wasn't a degree when I was attending school.

[whethertheyshould]

Oh, then certainly, feel free to ask me any questions of aspects of it you're curious about. [ Malcolm chuckles. ] Or not, that's fine too.

[vampthropologist]

Well, the most pressing one is unfortunately rather broad, so I won't take it amiss if you don't have an immediate answer. I've mostly contemplated chaos theory in relation to my own fields, which focus on the behavior of groups and cultures over time. Do you find there's much applicability there? The structures and ideas I've been able to comprehend - maths is, unfortunately, not my strong suit - seem passingly familiar.

[whethertheyshould]

Oh, there are definitely, definitely applications in the field of anthropology. Human behaviors are complex and hard to predict, but there are social attractors that determine outcomes. Are you familiar with the concept of attractors?

[vampthropologist]

Yes, that was one of the parallels I noticed. It's impossible to say what exactly a group of people will do - but you can make certain reasonable predictions, because there are patterns that people fall into, time and again, comfortable ones to which they gravitate. Attractors seem to be a similar concept, but expressed as mathematical equations?

[whethertheyshould]

Yes, exactly. You seem more well-versed in the theory than you even realized.

[vampthropologist]

Excellent. One hates to be a bore. But now that you've assured me I've not misunderstood the premise, here's my next question: can those patterns be interrupted? What I've read of chaos theory so far is preoccupied with prediction and observation, not interference. It would seem reasonable to conclude that if these attractors can be identified and predicted, they can also be thwarted, and an inevitable outcome perhaps avoided?

[What an oddly intense look he suddenly has]