400 BC, Democritus:
The world consists of atoms, constantly moving in the same direction. Together they form complex structures.
– Lucretius
structured chaos
99-55 BC, Lucretius:
Once, an atom must have changed direction and collided with another one. That is the clinamen: the smallest possible deviation.
spontaneity ∙ change ∙ beginning freedom ∙ the butterfly effect
1825, Coleridge:
Artists follow their predecessors, but then stray. That is the clinamen.
creative freedom
1927, Heisenberg:
Modern science needs a clinamen. At unpredictable times electrons jump.
the smallest possible jump, from here to
there, with nothing in between
1977, Serres:
“Whether we look at atoms, at species, and later, at society, the same model is always at work. That is, at first an equilibrium and, here, there, tomorrow or yesterday, a deviation.”
deviation as part of the system
does that still count as deviation?
necessary unpredictability
2013, Pettman:
Programmed orcs are able to strike and penguins are able to walk towards certain death. That is the clinamen.
free will / glitch
1986, Motte:
Always new interpretations of the clinamen. That’s how the authors stray. That is the clinamen.
interpretation as creation