Butterfly Effect explained

[Walter Joyce]

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas ... ly/?page=1

Once again pop culture gets it wrong.

[Josealb]

I really like Ray Bradburys take on it (A Sound Of Thunder), almost 10 years before Lorenz, because he mentions that effects take place with time (thousands of years, or millions) instead of pretty much right away.

I suppose most people like to think important stuff always get to happen during their lifetime.

[Darth Rock&Roll]

important stuff does happen in our lifetime.

the thing is related to direct connectivity to events or being a listener to the tale afterwards or hoping for the event before.

so, think of all the important things that have happened in just the amount of time that you've been alive.
for me, that's a 45 year window of time at present. In those 45 years, many tumultuous events have occurred and the aftermath of ww2 has settled in.

where there were no roads, there are now many. where there were few people there are now many, an dso on.

all of these things and each of us has remarkable significance. Just reminisce only a little and you'll find many things related to us all have happened in your time here so far.

[meeks]

isn't the butterfly effect where you tell some dude his shit is fake and he goes and shoots everyone in a McDonald's during breakfast?

[Darth Rock&Roll]

its a cause and effect theory , yes.

[meeks]

isn't the butterfly effect where you tell some dude his shit is fake and he goes and shoots everyone in a McDonald's during breakfast?

its a cause and effect theory , yes.

*sigh*... guess it wasn't as funny as I thought... I was just trying to make a 'shit is fake' joke.

[Walter Joyce]

isn't the butterfly effect where you tell some dude his shit is fake and he goes and shoots everyone in a McDonald's during breakfast?

its a cause and effect theory , yes.

*sigh*... guess it wasn't as funny as I thought... I was just trying to make a 'shit is fake' joke.

Dayum meeeks, you need to work on either your material or your delivery.

[Darth Rock&Roll]

well i was thinking my dry "cause and effect" line was the butter top on your funny toast meeks, so, it's a line crossing thing i guess. I did find the shooting joke funny though if that's any consolation at all...except for those who were shot of course...

[DeusTrismegistus]

ok, do we really need an internet article to tell us that people are stupid?

[meeks]

if not, the only thing left on the net would be porn and tattoo supplies...

[Darth Rock&Roll]

and movies of giggling teen girls doing nothing at all but giggling, and lipsynching chinese boys, and black boys who like to hump ottomans to r.kelly songs, and white emo kids who make naruto rip off videos with evanescence soundtracks.. ... i think they call this youtube or some such thing.

[Walter Joyce]

ok, do we really need an internet article to tell us that people are stupid?

No, buts its fun to point exactly how they are stupid.

[Steve James]

The "butterfly effect" is a criticsm of our ideas of cause and effect.
There is no such thing as an "important" event because "importance" is totally relative. We don't know what would have happened if any particular event had not occurred. For ex., a butterfly might flap its wings in Asia and some time later there might be a hurricane in the Caribbean. How do we know that one didn't cause the other? We don't. The butterfly effect postulates that we "can't" know.

[Walter Joyce]

The "butterfly effect" is a criticism of our ideas of cause and effect.
There is no such thing as an "important" event because "importance" is totally relative. We don't know what would have happened if any particular event had not occurred. For ex., a butterfly might flap its wings in Asia and some time later there might be a hurricane in the Caribbean. How do we know that one didn't cause the other? We don't. The butterfly effect postulates that we "can't" know.

AT LAST! the voice of reason!

That is exactly the point of the article, that and the idea that pop culture has reversed the meaning of the theory so that we think we CAN know the relationship of things so distant in the causal chain.

I am reminded of the theory of proximate cause, which limits responsibility for the cause of things to those actions or inactions that can be shown to have directly caused the event or injury.

[Darth Rock&Roll]

I don't think we should be so quick to resign ourselves as some stupid beats who have no idea of how to understand the ramifications of actions we take. The predictably of effect based on cause is not beyond our grasp.

In ultra broad sweeps, maybe so, but not always.

I know that I can build good will or resentment towards myself based on actions I take. I can likely even predict what the effect will be from what I cause.

I don't agree that we can't understand the effect or possible effects of the causes we put into motion.