There is an irreducible uncertainty in the prediction of human behavior because the dynamics of the brain, as a self-organizing system consisting of many millions of elements, are inherently indeterminate. Thus the Laplacian ideal of universal laws relating knowable causes to predictable effects cannot be realized in psychology.
BakP.TangC.WiesenfeldK. (1988) Self-organized criticality. Physical Review A, 38, 364–374.
3.
GouldS. J. (1989) Wonderful life: The Burgess shale and the nature of history. New York: Norton.
4.
HullC. L. (1943) Principles of behavior: An introduction to behavior theory. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
5.
LaplaceP. S. (1951) A philosophical essay on probabilities. (TruscottF. W.EmoryF. L., Trans.) New York: Dover. (Original work published in 1821).
6.
LayzerD. (1990) Cosmogenesis: The growth of order in the universe. Oxford: Oxford Univer. Press.
7.
MeehlP. E. (1990) Why summaries of research on psychological theories are often uninterpretable. Psychological Reports, 66, 195–244. (Monograph Supplement I-V66).
8.
RothenbergA.HausmanC. R. (Eds.) (1976) The creativity question. Durham, NC: Duke Univer. Press.
9.
SpearmanC. (1923) The nature of “intelligence” and the principles of cognition. London: Macmillan.
10.
SpearmanC. (1937) Psychology down the ages. London: Macmillan.
11.
SpearmanC.JonesWynn L. (1950) Human ability. London: Macmillan.
12.
ToynbeeA. J. (1961) A study of history. Vol. XII. London: Oxford Univer. Press.
13.
WenkeR. J. (1990) Patterns in prehistory. (3rd ed.) New York: Oxford Univer. Press.