The 'Butterfly Effect': what it is and what it teaches us about the world

A well-known popular Chinese saying goes that "the slight flutter of a butterfly's wings can be felt on the other side of the planet."

This refers to the fact that even the smallest things have a considerable effect, and over time it has been included in many areas, from serving as the main basis of various literary works to the point of forming a relevant part of one of the most controversial and popular scientific theories or paradigms, the theory of chaos.

And it is that the symbolism that contains this brief saying can be widely applicable to different realities, in what is known as the butterfly effect. It is about this effect that we are going to talk throughout this article.

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Butterfly effect: what is it and what does it tell us?

The name of the butterfly effect is a well-known effect according to which the existence of a certain action or situation can cause a series of successive situations or actions that end up causing a considerable effect that does not seem to correspond to the situation or element that started it.

This concept stems from the experiences of the meteorologist Edward Lorenz, who generated the term in 1973 in order to explain the impossibility of make fully reliable long-term weather predictions due to the accumulation of variables that can modify behavior atmospheric.

What explains the butterfly effect is that Apparently simple and innocuous alterations of a variable or action can generate massive effects, being the first trigger of a process that, as it spreads, is acquiring more and more strength. That is why it is said, in a variation of the popular saying, that the fluttering of a butterfly in Hong Kong can cause a hurricane in Hong Kong. New York: the slightest alteration in the same process can lead to very different results and even completely unexpected.

Basic part of chaos theory

The butterfly effect is a metaphor or analogy that is used as one of the pillars of the so-called chaos theory, also proposed by Lorenz, according to which there are the universe systems highly sensitive to the presence of variations, which can generate very diverse (although limited) results in a chaotic and unpredictable.

The main model of chaos theory proposes that when faced with two identical worlds or situations in which there is only an almost insignificant variable that differentiates them from each other, With the passage of time this small difference can cause both worlds to become more and more different until it is practically impossible to determine that they were once the same. same.

Thus, many disciplines cannot generate a stable model that allows accurate predictions in the long term in such a way that these are totally reliable, since small variables can vary the results to a great extent. Even the flutter of a butterfly. In this way, we must face the fact that we are always going to find a certain degree of uncertainty and chaos, the possibility being highly improbable. existence of a 100% totally secure prediction regarding what is going to happen: the facts may escape the possibility of prediction.

Although its high symbolic charge may seem to be the product of mysticism, the truth is that we are dealing with a branch or paradigm of science initially based on physics and the mathematics (in fact Lorenz himself was a meteorologist and mathematician) and that allows us to explain why predictions that seemed very accurate and worked. In addition, it also helps to avoid a total determinism and to assess which are the variables involved in each phenomenon, in such a way that knowledge should not be watertight but rather adaptable and fluid.

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Its implications on the human psyche

Although the so-called butterfly effect has been mainly linked to fields such as meteorology, the mechanism or operation that he proposes also presents applicability within the discipline of psychology. And it is that the fact that a simple fluttering can cause a hurricane can serve as an analogy to what happens in behavior and the human psyche.

In this sense, the butterfly effect would be applied to each and every one of the decisions we make, given that no matter how trivial a decision may seem, This choice can lead to a course of action and have results that are diametrically different from those that would have been implied by having taken other.

It is possible to see this for example within psychopathology: as much as perhaps a depressed person may not initially notice a great improvement by starting to take care of their hygiene daily after having been neglected for months or trying one day to eat with your family instead of eating alone in your room, this fact It can generate a series of small changes that make it easier for you to finally get out of the depression that kept you isolated of the world. From there to doing it more often, deciding to try other things, leaving home for the first time, going back to work, having fun again and staying more active...

The butterfly effect also influences psychology at the moment that we realize that each of our actions does not just end, but it can have effects both on ourselves and on the environment. An affectionate or rude comment, a hug, a criticism, a whisper, a compliment, a bad answer... or things apparently so wastes like greeting someone or even just looking at them has the potential to be game-changing for both us and others. the rest.

That is why our actions must take this fact into account, in such a way that it may be necessary assess what effects our actions or the lack of it can have on ourselves or on others the rest.

concluding

This theory also implies that we cannot fully know the results of our actions, and that the results obtained from them may be different depending on the participation of different variables during the process. This is something that on the one hand can provoke curiosity and motivation to explore, although for others people can be a reason for anguish and suffering (something that can even be at the base of many disorders).

Finally, the butterfly effect also helps to explain why there are such disparate reactions to the same situation or stimulation: the conditions under which each one of us leaves are different both on a biological (genetic inheritance) and psychosocial level (learning, experiences, lifestyles and behaviors). coping...).

Bibliographic references:

• Lorenz, E.N. (nineteen ninety six). The Essence of Chaos. University of Washington Press.