The Microsoft Word Thesaurus gives these words: disorder, confusion, bedlam, anarchy, pandemonium, commotion, disarray, turmoil, madness, mess, unruliness

The antonyms are: order, sort, organize, tidy, sort out and a few more.

The behavior of chaotic systems appears to be random, because of an exponential growth of errors in the initial conditions however there are no random elements involved. --Chaos theory, Wikipedia

Chaos was the nothingness out of which the first objects of existence appeared. --Chaos (Mythology), Wikipedia

The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers. -- M. Scott Peck

“Order is repetition of units. Chaos is multiplicity without rythm.” --M.C. Escher

Classmates quotes:

On any ordinary basis, I wouldn't have had a problem with jumping right into the chaos and voicing my opinion about this or that, but this time I didn't know how to jump in or contribute aside from my mere interjections of realistic pessimism. How does one break the rhythm of several and contribute enough to keep the harmony? How is it that one person would say something and without any conflict, the next person would respond just as seamlessly as woven fabric? I think what I'm trying to say is that I'm amazed at how unorganized and chaotic the class it, but really how structured it turns out to be when things get going.--Kris

The emphasis of Trey forcing us to find a pattern...to find rhythms amongst these interactions. But life really is just random collisions...and this honors seminar a forced collision. I would not have talked to most of these people that I have formed some sort of bond with.....Which we are made to believe that we are being taught to think outside the box but thats not really the case at all. And the moment we are actually given the freedom to do something outside of the box, we complain and insist on parameters. As honors students I would hope that we could exist without those limitations. We should act like the leaders of tomorrow that we are and make our own rules with common sense and moral decency. But I could be completely wrong. --Crystal

I have seen a pattern, a pattern which I have revisited and repeated numerous times in my own experience. That pattern being one of personal chaos from which, through ongoing discovery and acceptance, I emerge armed with an encyclopedic set of presuppositions that impose an order on the anarchy that abounds within and without and creates a raft by which I may escape the maelstrom.--Brian

The narrative of our class is the struggle between Order and Chaos, and the various roles played by these two forces in our lives. Essentially, the narrative is about power - power over our own lives, power over the class, power over our classmates' perceptions. In fact, power is pretty much defined as the triumph between Order and Chaos. If you have power, you have the ability to influence your environment and the people around you......Even smaller things - a conversation with a classmate, a smile from a stranger, a fabulous song or piece of art - are enough to make my entire being glow with happiness for hours afterward. I take such pleasure in these things - all things that would not exist without glorious, unpredictable people - that I have come to realize that I don't love these things despite the Chaos that brings them into my world, but that I love the Chaos because it brings these things into my world......The narrative of our class is the narrative of human history. It's about fighting to maintain a sense of Order in the face of Chaos. It's about exercising power over our lives. But it's also about embracing Chaos as a powerful force for good - as well as evil - in our lives.--Caitlin