Thanks for the question! The question asks us to apply the theory employed by the investigators mentioned in the second paragraph to the example about adding a grain of sand to a sandpile at the end of the passage. Let’s jump to the second paragraph to take a look at this theory, which states that investigators analyze large interactive systems in the same way as small orderly systems (13-14). As such, they analyze large interactive systems by studying its elements separately, and so assume that in large interactive systems the response to a disturbance is proportional to that disturbance. Thus, adding a small grain of sand will result in a disturbance proportional to that disturbance—in other words, a small movement. This is what (A) tells us. Small grain of sand goes in, at most a small movement results. Hope this helps! Feel free to ask further questions if you have them.
Veda-BhadharlaAugust 12, 2020
Why is B wrong? I feel like in the final paragraph they say that if you just examine a small part, you will see that avalanches occur, and I thought that in doing that they were drawing a parallel to the small system scientists
VictoriaOctober 6, 2020
Hi @Veda-Bhadharla,
Happy to help!
As Shunhe outlined, the theory mentioned in the second paragraph is that, in large interactive systems, the response to a disturbance is proportional to that disturbance.
Answer choice (B) is correct in outlining what would actually happen; however, we are asked to make a prediction based solely on the theory that is outlined in the second paragraph. This is the "traditional theory" that is later contradicted by the third paragraph and by the example of the pile of sand presented in the final paragraph.
If we just use the traditional theory, it makes sense to predict that the response to the disturbance would be minor as the theory tells us that the response to a disturbance is proportional to that disturbance and a grain of sand is very small.
Hope this helps clear things up! Please let us know if you have any further questions.
