The butterfly effect

[T3XT]

(Not about the movie)

Alright, so there's this philosophical concept I've become increasingly interested in called "the butterfly effect". The idea of it is that every tiny, seemingly trivial thing has an effect on the outcome of a situation. (an awesome and very underrated game about this concept)

So, I was just wondering: Do you believe in the idea, and, if so, to what extent do you think this could be taken? If I went back in time and took one tiny step differently, could it put me in totally different circumstances today? If Louis C.K. raped Hitler, could he have stopped WWII from happening?

discuss 'n' shit

[Darthdenim]

I don't think deeply about things.

It's pretentious.

[NeonSpider]

I have changed the world and continue to change the world! Muahahaha!

[CiviLies]

This is also what's Known as the "Chaos Theory," correct?
I doubt every little thing affects every other thing, but I certainly can see it with some events. I think a famous example of this would be,

"Can the flap of a butterfly's wings in Brazil lead to a tornado in Texas?"

Now that sounds a bit dramatic to me, but I can see it happening on a somewhat less climactic scale much more often. Then again, I doubt it's physically IMPOSSIBLE that a butterfly's wings can, ultimately, after months or even years, in part be the cause of some tornado somewhere.

I dunno.

[T3XT]

At 1/20/14 11:03 PM, CiviLies wrote: This is also what's Known as the "Chaos Theory," correct?

Correct, I should've mentioned that

[NeonSpider]

At 1/20/14 11:08 PM, T3XT wrote:

At 1/20/14 11:03 PM, CiviLies wrote: This is also what's Known as the "Chaos Theory," correct?

Correct, I should've mentioned that

You didn't mention it because I ate a peanut butter jelly sandwich when I was 5. If I hadn't eaten that sandwich you would have mentioned it.

Yay causality!

[Ron-Geno]

I looked left instead of right while waking up today.
What did I change?

[Entice]

At 1/20/14 11:03 PM, CiviLies wrote: Now that sounds a bit dramatic to me, but I can see it happening on a somewhat less climactic scale much more often. Then again, I doubt it's physically IMPOSSIBLE that a butterfly's wings can, ultimately, after months or even years, in part be the cause of some tornado somewhere.

That's kind of how I see it.

I understand that everything is connected, but it's a bit dramatic to say that everything matters. Saying that seemingly mundane events can make a huge difference makes more sense.

I'm sure that the time I shot a dragonfly with a BB gun as a kid won't have a significant impact on mankind even indirectly after thousands of years. It's possible, but so unlikely it's not even worth giving serious consideration.

[NeonSpider]

At 1/21/14 01:19 AM, Entice wrote:

At 1/20/14 11:03 PM, CiviLies wrote: Now that sounds a bit dramatic to me, but I can see it happening on a somewhat less climactic scale much more often. Then again, I doubt it's physically IMPOSSIBLE that a butterfly's wings can, ultimately, after months or even years, in part be the cause of some tornado somewhere.

That's kind of how I see it.

I understand that everything is connected, but it's a bit dramatic to say that everything matters. Saying that seemingly mundane events can make a huge difference makes more sense.

I'm sure that the time I shot a dragonfly with a BB gun as a kid won't have a significant impact on mankind even indirectly after thousands of years. It's possible, but so unlikely it's not even worth giving serious consideration.

You fool! Your actions will result in the evolution of a new kind of dragonfly that will, in the year 3890 wipe out all the puppies! If you didn't shoot that dragonfly we would instead have endless puppies. Endless puppies!! Oh and somehow no population problems because, um, they'd be space puppies that could live in space.

[Stereocrisis]

At 1/20/14 10:52 PM, T3XT wrote: (Not about the movie)

Okay.

Alright, so there's this philosophical concept I've become increasingly interested in called "the butterfly effect".

Go on. (I've heard of this.)

The idea of it is that every tiny, seemingly trivial thing has an effect on the outcome of a situation. (an awesome and very underrated game about this concept)

Yes? Yes?

So, I was just wondering:

Here it comes!

Do you believe in the idea

Yes.

and, if so, to what extent do you think this could be taken?

Well, to get into it would take so much time, and drawing paper, that I just wouldn't be able to precisely tell you every single detail.

If I went back in time and took one tiny step differently, could it put me in totally different circumstances today? If Louis C.K. raped Hitler, could he have stopped WWII from happening?

discuss 'n' shit

Ok. So, you have to think of this in terms of creating ripples. Like casting a stone in a pond.

The stone hitting the water would send out a series of ripples which would eventually effect the entire body of water.

Taking the into account, you also must understand that literally EVERYTHING in the universe has a relationship with everything else. Although it might not appear that a supernova taking place two billion light years away could cause a pimple on Howard Stern's ass... it DOES. In some way, everything that you have EVER accomplished in your entire LIFE was somehow made possible by the discovery of ice cream and the creation of the liberty bell.

The thing is, it's damn near impossible to track down every single event to actually prove a relationship between these things. It's probably something like a .000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001 contribution... but I believe that it is an all interlocking, all masterful design in which cause and effect has made every single event the RESULT of all the passing contributing events.

Therefore, saying that my birth and your birth was only made possible by the discovery of Mars isn't so far fetched.

Trust me, if you dig deep enough, there is a connection between everything.

[WiiFittoToreinaa]

At 1/21/14 01:02 AM, Ron-Geno wrote: I looked left instead of right while waking up today.
What did I change?

Avalanche in mt.raineer.

[Stereocrisis]

At 1/21/14 01:02 AM, Ron-Geno wrote: I looked left instead of right while waking up today.
What did I change?

You changed your mind.
You saw something on one side instead of the other.
What you saw set your mood.
Your mood set in motion your actions.
Your actions effected the moods and actions of those around you.
The moods and actions of those people then affected the moods and actions of people around them.

So on and so forth was this ripple you created that both minor and major events took places in which you are indirectly responsible.

[Cyberdevil]

At 1/20/14 10:52 PM, T3XT wrote: (Not about the movie)

The movie was great though. The first one. Not the sequels.

[mechadude32]

Can a butterfly fluttering its wings in Brazil, cause a typhoon in India?

[KatMaestro]

It's not what you believe in, it's about how you understand it.

[JRob]

At 1/21/14 06:18 AM, Cyberdevil wrote:

At 1/20/14 10:52 PM, T3XT wrote: (Not about the movie)

The movie was great though. The first one. Not the sequels.

There were sequels?

[Cyberdevil]

At 1/21/14 11:58 AM, JRob wrote: There were sequels?

Yeah, it turned trilogy post profit.

[Ron-Geno]

At 1/21/14 04:48 AM, Stereocrisis wrote: So on and so forth was this ripple you created that both minor and major events took places in which you are indirectly responsible.

I liked that
=)

[Schizo-Sephy]

The flap of a butterfly's wing in Japan caused a tornado in the United States.

[Dercaful]

At 1/21/14 12:39 AM, NeonSpider wrote: You didn't mention it because I ate a peanut butter jelly sandwich when I was 5. If I hadn't eaten that sandwich you would have mentioned it.

Yay causality!

Don't know why but I laughed a lot to this.

[Rahmemhotep]

Damn! That movie sucked!

[T3XT]

By the way, good reading material on this topic: the book Freakonomics, and the sequel Superfreakonomics. They're non-fiction books about the ways little things can make big differences. I don't want to give too much away, but I'll paraphrase a certain excerpt from Superfreakonomics to demonstrate the concept of the books:

After 9/11 happened, car accidents went up significantly in the United States. The two seem unrelated; however, the two are actually very closely correlated. After 9/11, people became too scared to fly. If you need to get somewhere far, but don't want to fly, the only other logical option is driving. And because there were more people on the road, there were more accident-prone people on the road, which mean there were more accidents.

Interesting, huh? Just one of the many things the books touch.

[Gimmick]

At 1/22/14 12:23 AM, T3XT wrote: By the way, good reading material on this topic: the book Freakonomics, and the sequel Superfreakonomics. They're non-fiction books about the ways little things can make big differences. I don't want to give too much away, but I'll paraphrase a

Ah, I've read both of those books. Interesting to say the least. Another example of this would be the heating effect of most of North America (or just the US, I don't exactly remember) due to the lack of planes flying a few days post-9/11.

[Gagsy]

What I do know is that once upon a few years back I had to choose between two guys. It sounds silly I suppose, but its the truth. Two guys were into me and I liked them both but had to make a decision, I chose the guy who I'd had feelings for longest as it seemed honest and sadly it didn't work out and I still do sometimes sit here and think, huh if I chose the other guy how different could things be now. And I know they would be.