Chaos

The Butterfly Effect

Resurrection — How would you react to an opportunity to live your life backward? How would you picture yourself to be; Existential or essential?

Based on my repetitive interactions with people around me, I could identify an underpinning theme in how they see life as a concept. And to my surprise, chaos was that theme. And this has cultivated a seed of overthinking in us, leading to a very fundamental question — do we even realize the power of thought (a mini string of thought), or for that matter, even a congregation of various alphabets that form a word in our daily language? And the essence of mot juste?

It is said to believe that a tornado could be influenced by minor perturbations such as the flapping of the wings of a distant butterfly several weeks earlier. The term “butterfly effect” was coined by meteorologist Edward Lorenz, who discovered in the 1960s that tiny, butterfly — scale changes to the starting point of his computer weather models resulted in anything from sunny skies to violent storms — with no way to predict in advance what the outcome might be. The butterfly effect is an idea that is more commonly used in Chaos Theory, emphasizing that a small change can make much bigger changes happen, and one small incident can have a big impact on the future.

While many misconstrue this concept to cascade into Nihilism, my take on this theory would entirely revolve around the power of repercussions. Sure, human life is unpalatable and the whole journey is nothing but filled with exorbitant sparkles to finding the purpose behind driving the wheels. However, amidst experiencing this, we fail to acknowledge the power of our gestures and the impacts it could furnish.

In this day and age, we all are victims of some trauma or the other, coddling up with some dated incidents which altered our mindset or outlook towards everything. With 2020 kicking in, the quotient of trauma has surged exponentially. Recently scientists have discovered that trauma is passed on from one generation to the next not only psychologically but also physiologically; an invaluable, but depressing, discovery, cornering us to a very chaotic place. But while the impact of trauma is brawny, imagine then, the effect of one act of kindness that allows for linking all of us in ways we never imagined. If we could tabulate the ramifications, they would be as startling as that of the butterfly effect. Even a small act of consideration may reverberate beyond anything we might imagine.

What do we take away from this? Perhaps that it is the small acts of empathy that spin the web that holds everything together — what we do every day is more important than what we do once in a while. We can start by following the tips shared by an article on the Tatler —

• Thinking carefully about what we want to say
• Considering wisely what’s best left unspoken
• Remembering that how we do either of the above would determine the impact we make

Many species form a clan to enhance their chances of survival, including butterflies and fishes. What is the key take away for us? — If fish and butterflies unite for safety in numbers, surely humans could too. On the contrary, we just divide ourselves into myriad groups that take precedence over our humanity.

We need to relearn, that to survive, we have to be united. With the butterfly effect, we can be!

I hope this offers us a chance at living our lives in the resurrection, where every moment can be lived by being aware of what we do and knowing the potential consequences of those deeds. The significance of the smallest step that can be taken to change the course of life completely. Reaching an understanding that an act of kindness allows for looking for ourselves and others, linking all of us in unimaginable ways.

References — https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/whats-in-name/201505/what-does-the-butterfly-effect-offer-you