Nonlinear Dynamical Modeling of Questioning

The dynamics of questioning have been a subject of profound inquiry throughout history, rooted in the Socratic tradition and Platonic dialogues. Maieutics, the “midwifery” of ideas, remains a cornerstone of knowledge discovery in both scientific discourse and contemporary pedagogy. Today, the rapid evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has reinvigorated this topic, necessitating models capable of evaluating whether a dialogue facilitates a genuine increase in knowledge or remains trapped in recursive loops. In this paper, we propose a nonlinear dynamical model of Maieutics based on the Chua’s circuit paradigm. Recognized as a universal model for chaotic dynamics, the Chua system provides an elegant formalization for transitions between certainty, doubt, and synthesis, making real the isomorphism between the Socratic Maieutic and the Chua circuit design. A case study to demonstrate the procedural application of this model, illustrating its suitability for mapping the evolution of cognitive states in both human and AI interactions, is presented.