When I was a cadet at West Point, ages ago, I was required to take a semester-long class on ThermoFluid Dynamics. I don’t why I needed to take this course, and it doesn’t much matter anymore. In any case, I studied hard, passed my exams, and promptly forgot nearly everything I had been taught. In my fuzzy memories of the course, I seem to recall that there were mathematical ways to predict the motion of a fluid, whether it be a liquid or a gas. I distinctly remember is that, if the fluid became turbulent, then all bets were off. Turbulence precludes the possibility of knowing what a fluid would do. At that point, the answer to the equation becomes a big question mark.
A few years later, when I was at flight school and learning the basic physics involved with aviation, the subject of turbulence came up again. This time I paid a bit more attention because turbulence has a direct impact on how well a helicopter can fly. For an airfoil, be it the wing of an airplane or the rotor blade on a helicopter, to produce lift, it requires a smooth flow of air underneath it. Turbulent air does not produce lift, which means the aircraft cannot stay aloft. This is a big deal to an aviator.
Years later, I read Chaos, a book by James Gleick. I should say that I attempted to read it, because a lot of the mathematics in the book was over my head. The book was about chaotic systems, of which turbulence is one. Chaotic systems like the weather or road traffic have hidden patterns, feedback loops, and are incredibly complex. These systems are sometimes stable, and then suddenly they’re not.
The weather is an example of a system that can change at a moment’s notice. On the other hand, the Great Red Spot on the planet Jupiter is an example of a chaotic system that has lasted at least since 1831. The atmosphere of Jupiter is in constant turmoil, yet this massive high-pressure system has persisted for almost two centuries. The point is that, even in the most chaotic environments, an island of stability can exist.
I tend to think that the human brain is a chaotic system. There is probably nothing in the universe that is more complex. Even when the organ functions properly, there are moments of unpredictability. Now, what happens if you take the brain and put it on drugs? It won’t look like an egg frying in a pan, but it will be definitely chaotic.
I have a friend who worked as a bouncer in his youth. We talked about drunks. His comment was, “You can’t reason with these people!”
Indeed.
Having dealt with drunks, and having been one, I can attest to the fact that somebody who is drunk or high is highly unpredictable. I know from experience that you cannot tell what will happen next with that person. The individual is chaos incarnate.
So, what do you do with somebody who is using? How do you keep the person from injuring themselves or someone else?
You can’t fight chaos with chaos. Somebody needs to stay calm and rational. That is difficult to do, especially if the person using is acting out of control. Sometimes, and I’ve done it, you have to call the cops. Sometimes, you get lucky, and you guess the hidden pattern underneath the chaos.
I got lucky a couple days ago. Somebody who I know well was drunk. The person really needed to go someplace and sleep it off, and that place was not at the individual’s current location. I had a few times in the past taken this person to a motel to stay overnight.
After quietly explaining that they really needed to settle down, I asked them, “So, what do you want to do?”
The person pondered for a moment and sighed. They replied, “Go to a motel, I guess.”
“Do you want me to take you?”
“Yeah.”
I found the Great Red Spot.
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Frank (Francis) Pauc is a graduate of West Point, Class of 1980. He completed the Military Intelligence Basic Course at Fort Huachuca and then went to Flight School at Fort Rucker. Frank was stationed with the 3rd Armor Division in West Germany at Fliegerhorst Airfield from December 1981 to January 1985. He flew Hueys and Black Hawks and was next assigned to the 7th Infantry Division at Fort Ord, CA. He got the hell out of the Army in August 1986.
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