Do we matter?
Right now, on earth, there are approximately 7 billion people, 3.5 trillion fish in the ocean, 10 to 100 quadrillion of insects, and about 3 trillion trees. Why am I giving those numbers? Well, according to the butterfly effect, the movement of a single one of those living species can have a massive impact on the life of another. Those impacts can be positive or negative; the consequence is not that essential; what’s important here is to think that a single living species can change the world. And, there is this idea that this small thing can be manipulated to a wished end.
But does the butterfly effect work in this way?
First, let me explain the butterfly effect that I keep talk about. In 1963, Edward Lorenz, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology meteorology professor, developed this concept following some weather predictions that he was running on his computer. Basically, the butterfly effect can be described as followed: “it is the idea that small things can have non-linear impacts on a complex system.” [1]
The most common example is that if a butterfly flaps its wings, it will cause a typhoon. This is not that simple; a single butterfly cannot cause a storm; it might change its course, but it is a phenomenon that requires many conditions to actually happen, and it is impossible to predict the exact reason for the start of a storm.
I would like to explain this by giving another example:
A commander ordered his soldier to kill a specific enemy on the battlefield, and so according to this commander, the death of this precise enemy will lead to the end of the first World War. The point here is that it might have changed the course of the war, but could it be the only reason for the end? It is impossible to answer this question since Wars are not simple things; they are so complex that it is impossible to predict how the situation will develop.
Another example but this time is like the butterfly, it is a random action that will have a significant impact somewhere in the world:
Let’s say that I’m driving on the motorway and that I decide to brake; this will ultimately force other drivers to brake, and like that, I’ve started a chain reaction. Will the fact that I braked somewhere on the highway in Belgium cause a massive accident in France? Could it be possible to prove that accident occurred because of me? Or could I have be able to predict that it would’ve happen if I braked in a precise moment? What if I did not brake or braked 500 meters later? Will the accident still happen? Will it be the same or worse? I might have an impact on it but will I be the generator? It will always be the same, it is impossible to answer those questions.
This is actually what Lorenz tried to prove with the butterfly effect that in predictions deviations can occur if there is even the slightest change in the start of an action.In short, he proved that predictions are insignificant if the initial condition is not known precisely.
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