Term the ‘butterfly effect’ has been presented by Edward Lorenz, the famous mathematician and diligent meteorologist. He arrived at this discovery in the process of producing weather predictions. Lorenz conducted his experiment several times to prove that the atmospheric disturbances are not chaotic, but they have some order in the randomness. He resorted to computer modeling in order to illustrate his ideas and established a set of equations. Once Lorenz has plotted the order distribution graphic, it resembled a butterfly. In addition, the meteorologist supposed that a flap of butterfly’s wings in Brazil can creates atmospheric disturbances that may lead to a tornado in Texas. Hence, the explanation of the term origin.
Lorenz illustrated dramatically how a small change in initial conditions can result in a profound effect on posterior events. This idea has been taken as one of the basic principles in chaos theory. According to chaos theorists, even the perfect knowledge of current weather conditions does not allow meteorologist to forecast weather for a long period in the future. Lorenz is considered to be a “father of butterfly effect and chaos theory” The theory became popular only after the discovery of the butterfly effect.
There is a strong interrelation between the chaos theory and the butterfly effect. The mathematician Henri Poincare has introduced the theory for the first time in the 20th century. According to his statement, differences in the primary conditions affect the outcome. The modern form of chaos theory was first described by Edward Lorenz in 1960. He had been working on weather prediction. Lorenz noticed that the same data input could bring different results (Kirkland, 2010).
Chaos theory makes impact on almost all areas of people’s lives. For example, the chaos models can be used to organize traffic flow for the purpose of avoiding jams. It also can be applied in forecasting population growth effects. In routine life, chaos is associated with a state of disorder and uncertainty. The warning of chaos theory is that neglecting some details will consequently bring serious retaliation. The butterfly effect in chaos theory demonstrates that small things may turn out to have effects of high magnitude over some time. An initial mistake in the criminal investigation causes confusion at later stages.
The butterfly effect described by Lorenz is an interesting phenomenon that continues to attract the attention of filmmakers and writers all over the world. The butterfly effect is not only a mathematical theory. A well-known movie also has the same name. It is entirely possible that more people know about the movie than about the essence of the theory. In fact, the butterfly effect seems to be one of the most mysterious manifestations of complex systems. Scientists from all fields have confirmed the practical use of this effect in people’s lives. Moreover, they stated that all people are integrally woven into a complex organism of nature, and even a small impact can lead to the enormous consequences.
Lorenz’s discovery also affects organizational management and explains why long-range planning is not possible. In other words, people will never be able to identify or control all the elements that shape life because the same event in the same place may result in completely different outcomes. Butterfly effect helps to understand why the best laid plans of people are violated by unpredictable events. Nevertheless, the bewildering chaos may have an inexplicable pattern (Imada, 2008).
Principle of the butterfly effect influences the whole society. For instance, an unobtrusive appearance of the new nanotechnologies allows creating batteries with the unique characteristics. As a result, it will radically change the layout of the global car industry. Leading American, German and Japanese automakers consider this breakthrough as the most promising direction of the car industry development. They only wait for a massive emergence of the efficient battery technology. This is a vivid example of the butterfly effect in lives of people created by nanotechnology.
People can also feel the influence of the butterfly effect in everyday life. Every thought or action has the potential to impact the rest of the world. In other words, people’ deeds may change the course of further events. Theoretically, if a person treats others in a positive way, he/she empowers surrounding persons to behave in the same way. Sometimes people even have no idea of the influence they can have on lives of other people. The chaos theory with its fundamental principle called the butterfly effect demonstrates this impact. There is a simple example when a person with only one smile can elevate the mood of another person. In such a way, the person can pass on the positive feeling to surrounding persons and these people in their turn to another people. A person like a butterfly has started a chain reaction without limited possibilities. A kind gesture or word can profoundly affect another person. Scientific studies have proven that praying for patients can result in the improvement of their health (King & Lawley,2013).
Therefore, wishing for someone’s good, whether the person knows it or not, can have a positive impact on his or her life.
Butterfly effect shows that everything is related, everything can make its impact, and that even small thing can have a great significance. Everyone and everything can subtly influence the course of any system. Moreover, the butterfly effect is a distinctive feature of all chaotic systems since chaos is everywhere. The climate around the world can change dramatically in a few years. Stock markets can suddenly collapse. It seems that unpredictability is an inherent property of the world. Humanity can only accept it as a fact.
