Chaos Theory has taken over the world of modern science, according to Dr. Allan Combs, the keynote speaker at
the Chaos Theory in Psychology and the Life Sciences meeting held at the University of Pennsylvania last
weekend.   It is now part of the everyday work of scientists in every discipline.  Combs said that at first many
physicists were visibly upset with the idea that the universe was not a machine, and that many things could never be
predicted perfectly, no matter how hard they worked.  Combs reassured them that the universe would not fall apart
because "instead of mechanism, we will have algorithm."  An algorithm is a step-by-step mathematical procedure,
so precise that it can be carried out by a computer, yet often yielding chaotic results because a number of
procedures are interacting with each other.

Real Video of Dr. Allan Combs.        3minutes, 52 seconds

An exciting application of chaos theory revealed at the conference is Webmind, a computer program modeled on the
human brain.  According to Dr. Ben Goertzel, founder of The Webmind Corporation in New York, Webmind consists
of a large number of nodes containing algorithms that interact with each other to produce an intelligence greater
than any achieved by previous computer programs.  There is a psycore that models the fundamental logic of the
brain, as well as specialized nodes for applications such as predicting financial markets and reading email letters.
The Webmind software is about two-thirds finished, according to Dr. Goertzel, but it is already being tested by
leading investment firms.

The  Video of Dr. Ben Goertzel is in four segments:
Wembind1  8 minutes, 59 seconds
Webmind2   5 minutes, 32 seconds
Webmind3  5 minutes, 30 seconds
Webmind4      2 minutes, 29 seconds

Also at the conference was Dr. Ted Goertzel, Ben's father, who discussed generational changes in the zeitgeist.

Real Video of Dr. Ted Goertzel         7minutes, 50 seconds