Butterflies, Effects.

Do you ever stop and think about the butterfly effect? You know, the suggestion that comparatively tiny events can influence the collapse of empires by creating a cascade of cause and effect that is so invisible at first that it's almost impossible to pinpoint exactly where it all began. It's an offshoot of chaos theory posited as the thought that a butterfly gently flapping its wings would influence the formation of a category five tornado. There are dozens of permutations of the effect presented since the term was first coined, and at some point somebody made a movie about it.

We're not here to talk about the movie. We're here to talk about butterfly wings. Double pendulums are a good example of the concepts at work here. The concept being the butterfly effect, not butterfly wings. Though did you know that butterfly wings are actually a sort of naturally occurring computer display? The surface area of the wing is formed by tiny tiny scales that are individually pigmented, not unlike the LCD layer of a screen. They of course don't have their own backlight, and they're less translucent than an LCD, but when you see light reflected off a butterfly wing or colored as it filters through, that is essentially an array of pixels displaying information to the world. Things like "I'm poisonous" to predators, or "I'm actually a leaf."

But we weren't talking about butterfly wings either, despite the promise of it when introducing the butterfly effect as the effect of a butterfly's wings. I suppose less of a promise than a suggestion, which would make this more of a subversion than a broken promise. Which is an important distinction to make, because a subverted expectation can often be used to drive home a point, while a broken promise will feel like a betrayal. Even when the promise was only perceived, and not intended. That's why it's important to be cognizant of all the possible ways you could unintentionally make promises through your communication. Clarity is paramount here.

Which is why I'm stating clearly that the topic here is the butterfly effect. It's topical, given the effects seemingly minor things have had on the world around us. The proverbial butterflies have been building the flaps of seemingly insignificant wings for decades now. It's worth noting that in addition to not literally being about wings, the concept behind the butterfly effect is not to suggest tiny related actions building on each other for extended periods of time. The butterfly effect is much more random and chaotic, given its origin in chaos theory.

Let's go back to those double pendulums I mentioned earlier; here's a video of some.

You can see that despite similar starting positions there is enough variance from one run to the other that they quickly deviate from each other. This variance is random and unpredictable, tiny particles of dust increasing the friction between two moving pieces, slight deviance to the tidal effect of the moon's gravity well as it passes overhead, or slight changes in temperature causing materials to expand or contract. Yes, even something like subtle shifts to the air currents in the room caused by people moving around, a change in the HVAC system, or yes, the gentle flapping of a butterfly's wings outside somewhere can have an effect. Without perfect isolation, these variances will occur.

That's the butterfly effect we're talking about. Again, it doesn't have to be literal wings, but the possibility that it is related to wings certainly cannot be discounted. That aspect of the concept is immaterial; the minuscule effects of these events are by their very nature too small to correlate with any certainty. This is the concept Dr. Malcolm is trying to explain to Dr. Sadler in the film Jurassic Park. Which is distinct from the film The Butterfly Effect, which I haven't seen, but if there's any justice in the world, they will share at least some subject matter. But probably not a scene where Jeff Goldblum dumps water on Laura Dern's hand. Never say never, though.

Now that that's all abundantly clear, I ask again; do you ever just stop and think about the butterfly effect? I did just now.

Turns out it's an excellent starting point for a load of meaningless drivel. So now that you've read all this we can wonder together what the possible long-term ramifications of the minutes you just wasted will be.