The Butterfly Effect

Imagine a butterfly flapping its wings in the Amazon Rainforest. It might seem like an incredibly trivial action with zero significance, however, according to the butterfly effect, the inconsequential flap of its wings can set off a chain reaction that could change the world forever. 

This phenomenon was first discovered by Edward Lorenz in the 1960s and explains that small actions can have large consequences because systems are extremely dependent on initial conditions. Lorenz was a professor of meteorology at MIT and wanted to use new computer technology to be able to more accurately predict weather cycles. To simulate a physical system such as the weather, one must solve differential equations, which predict how a system changes over time. Lorenz found that when he rounded one variable from .506127 to .506 the results changed dramatically. This created the idea of “sensitive dependence on initial conditions.” The understanding of the tiniest of changes leading to wildly different outcomes. This discovery led to a new branch of mathematics known as chaos theory that studies the behavior of systems that are “unpredictable” due to their extreme sensitivity to initial conditions.

Chaos Theory and the Butterfly effect have many real world applications including the flow of liquid, weather, population cycles, stock market rates and so much more because of how many variables exist in the world we live in and how unpredictable it is. The butterfly effect highlights just how interconnected the world is and the inherent unpredictability of it.