6th February 2025
“It used to be thought that the events that changed the world were things like big bombs, maniac politicians, huge earthquakes, or vast population movements, but it has now been realized that this is a very old-fashioned view held by people totally out of touch with modern thought. The things that change the world, according to Chaos theory, are the tiny things.
A butterfly flaps its wings in the Amazonian jungle, and subsequently a storm ravages half of Europe.”
Benjamin Franklin offered a poetic perspective in his variation of a proverb that’s been around since the 14th century long before the identification of the butterfly effect:
For want of a nail the shoe was lost,
For want of a shoe the horse was lost,
For want of a horse the rider was lost,
For want of a rider the battle was lost,
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost,
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
The lack of one horseshoe nail could be inconsequential, or it could indirectly cause the loss of a war. There is no way to predict which outcome will occur.
Hence, be wary of the small supposedly inconsequential bad habits, they may have repercussions far beyond our imagination.
As the saying goes, a small leak can sink the ship.
The butterfly effect shows how tiny details can lead to massive changes. Here are a few examples:
The bombing of Nagasaki: Cloud cover over the original target, Kuroko, led to Nagasaki being bombed instead. A simple weather change altered history.
Hitler’s art school rejection: Twice rejected from art school at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, Hitler’s path changed from aspiring artist to dictator. Imagine if he’d been accepted.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s assassination: A wrong turn by his driver put him in the path of his assassin. This sparked World War I.
The Chernobyl disaster: Three workers prevented a second explosion that could have made half of Europe uninhabitable. Their actions limited the catastrophe.
These examples show how fragile our world is. Small events can have enormous consequences.
We often think we can predict and control complex systems like weather or the economy. The butterfly effect proves we can’t. These systems are chaotic and can change suddenly.
At best, we can try to create good starting conditions and be aware of potential catalysts. But we can’t control or predict outcomes perfectly. Thinking we can only sets us up for failure.
The same is true in the opposite too, a small good deed or habit may compound into good things you can’t even imagine.
Every action, no matter how small, can set off a chain of events we might never foresee.
So the next time you make a decision, remember, you could be unleashing consequences far beyond your imagination.
Be aware of the Butterfly effect of your actions & stay blessed forever.