I'm back .. Ok, Carl .. yep .. the definitions I posted were for the record and weren't intended to counter-argue anything you've said. I was going to say this, but I ran out of time. (Apologies for any misunderstandings).
As far as long term earthquake prediction is concerned, I agree that at the moment, it still seems we still don't have the ability to make long enough predictions, and it may always be that way.
My purpose for introducing the concepts which Chaos Theory introduces, is simply a way to help us step outside of the usual things we go looking for, and ponder them for a while, given that traditional ways of looking to create predictive models of earthquakes, may never get us closer to the 'traditional' end goals, which target providing answers for questions like:
- how big will it be .. how long do clusterings last … when will the next one happen.. etc, etc.
Rob: Thanks for the paper … its interesting .. I don't know about others, but it seems that no matter how many times I read about Chaos related areas, I find it difficult to retain the concepts in memory (over the medium to longer term) …. another reason I posted the basic system concepts/definitions.
Perhaps Chaos is another one for the "Counterintuitive" thread, eh ?
(Or is it just me ?).
I'm always interested in reading about the practical outcomes of Chaos Theory and Fractal geometry. Fractal geometry applications are easier to come by, but I'm sure that the concepts of Chaos Theory are well and truly embedded in all sorts of mathematical models thesedays.
Cheers