Math has never been my favorite subject, but I am completely charmed by the butterfly effect! What is the butterfly effect you ask?

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The Butterfly Effect Defined

A part of chaos theory, the Cambridge dictionary defines the butterfly effect as “A situation in which an action or change that does not seem important has a very large effect, especially in other places or around the world.” In a commonly used example, “it is sometimes said that the flapping of a butterfly’s wings in one part of the world can cause a hurricane on the other side of the globe.” Tiny changes in initial conditions of a chaotic system like the atmosphere “can lead to large-scale and unpredictable variation in the future state of the system” (Merriam-Webster dictionary) Basically, it’s the idea that small changes can have a big, surprising impact.

The History

The butterfly effect has an interesting history. Officially the butterfly effect is called “Sensitive dependence on initial conditions.” It was first discovered by an MIT mathematician and meteorology professor named Edward Lorenz in 1961. He worked some computer calculations using first 6 decimal places then only 3 decimal places and was surprised to find the results dramatically different. Mathematicians at the time expected tiny changes at the beginning of a process to only exert little change at the end, but these results shook their reasoning. This new discovery became the start of Chaos theory, how small changes in large systems (groups of people, weather patterns, numbers etc.) can have complex results.

A Picture of the Butterfly Effect

While the results seem chaotic because there are too many different factors to predict how everything will interact, they are still governed by the same rules of nature that apply everywhere. That the same mathematical rules in creation that create beautiful fractals and detailed patterns can also yield surprising results.

Though Edward’s Lorenz’s initial chaos theory model looked like it was only producing chaos, when the results were graphed they noticed something interesting; chaos turned into order with minute changes. The graph looked like a butterfly!

A flap of a wing can make a big change!

It was from this that the butterfly effect was named. What a beautiful picture of chaos and order coexisting together in nature. I love the thought of a chaotic looking universe being organized by natural laws, then finding that tiny changes from it’s inhabitants (like us!!!) can actually lead to great changes. Additionally, as a Christian this strongly points toward an intelligent Creator and gives an intriguing picture of how our free will works together with God’s sovereignty.

So remember, when your world (or even your living room if you’re home with lots of kids like me,) looks chaotic and out of control, you can be the butterfly effect. Your small, seemingly insignificant efforts can have a great impact on your family and the world around you. Choose to be a blessing and stay positive!

Some of my artwork features the idea of the butterfly effect! Check out this beautiful Butterfly Effect T shirt in a variety of colors