Those who advance without a fixed direction are described as erratic.
The etymology of erratic leads us to erratĭcus , a Latin term. Erratic is an adjective that describes someone who moves in an errant way, without a specific direction .
For example: “The young woman's erratic walking aroused suspicions in the police officer” , “When one of its tires burst, the car began to move erratically down the avenue” , “The ball, erratic, was lost along the baseline, very far from the goal.”
Erratic in physics and geology
In the field of physics , we speak of an erratic movement when the acceleration, speed and position of a body cannot be described through a single continuous mathematical function along its trajectory. What is required in these cases is a series of functions that allow the movement to be specified at different intervals.
For geology , an erratic block is a piece of rock that, due to its type and size, is different from the native rock of the surface on which it rests. Long ago, the erratic blocks were moved by glacial ice; When it melted, the blocks were deposited in different areas.
A drunk person has an erratic gait.
The term in colloquial language
The adjective erratic, on the other hand, is used in colloquial language to refer to something that is not stable, does not have solidity or is impossible to predict : “The government's erratic economic plan will only generate greater unemployment” , “Erratic behavior of the president worries political analysts” , “The national team became an erratic team, whose players wander around the playing field without knowing what to do” .
Many times, this concept is confused with being erroneous, although despite their sound coincidences they are different. Although both come from the verb to err, "erroneous" is based on the literal meaning of the verb "to make a mistake", while "erratic" does so in a new nuance that is "to go aimlessly ."
Thus, while something erratic is something imprecise that could not be predicted , erroneous refers to a wrong direction. When we talk about erratic behavior, for example, we refer to its unpredictable condition, while erroneous behavior is that which goes against the principles of the person judging it. We could also add that erroneous behavior can be erratic if the person who carries it out does not follow his own pattern of behavior, but it can also not be erratic if it is carried out being faithful to a predictable line of behavior , even if it opposes the ideas of who judges her.
The erratic in psychology
The concept of erratic is also used in the field of psychology to refer to certain personality alterations present in numerous disorders , such as bipolarity, obsessive-compulsive disorder or borderline personality disorder.
Erratic behaviors are a symptom that is analyzed to define the state of the patient's emotional system . Erratic behavior is characterized by sudden changes in behavior for no apparent reason .
The passive-aggressive disorder that has been present in certain diagnoses is characterized by presenting an attitude detached from the conventional responsibilities that an adult must assume and, at the same time, by showing sudden changes in mood in dealing with other people without There must be a compelling reason for this.
People with this disorder usually experience constant aggression within themselves, although they do not always express it. Such violence can materialize for no apparent reason at any time and, in doing so, threaten the apparent balance in the patient's environment. Irritability, detachment and listlessness usually accompany this type of disorder, which can completely affect the normal development of the life of the person who suffers from it.