In 1963, Edward Lorenz, a meteorology professor from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), after finalizing his work studying weather patterns, published a paper called Deterministic Nonperiodic Flow, which set the foundation for the creation of the term that we know today as “The Butterfly Effect”.
With differential equations, he created a model to show, in essence, that even the slightest change in one variable can create a completely different outcome (which in this case is related to the weather) that couldn’t have been predicted at the beginning. He reached this conclusion when he rounded one variable with the value of 0.506127 to 0.506 in his weather predictions and noticed that this 0.000127 (statistically irrelevant) difference completely changed the 2 month weather forecast he had done previously.
Years later, on December 29, 1972, in a conference called Predictability: Does the Flap of a Butterfly’s Wings in Brazil Set Off a Tornado in Texas?, Edward Lorenz related his previous work to the metaphor of how a butterfly’s flap could represent that minor change of events that creates a huge difference for a future outcome.
“The question which really interests us is whether they can do even this—whether, for example, two particular weather situations differing by as little as the immediate influence of a single butterfly will generally after sufficient time evolve into two situations differing by as much as the presence of a tornado. In more technical language, is the behavior of the atmosphere unstable with respect to perturbations of small amplitude?”
(Lorenz, 1972).
Although his initial aim was to prove how slight changes at the present moment can cause big changes over the course of time, he created one of the most significant scientific concepts that has transcended the limits of science.
For us (non-scientific individuals), it’s the empirical evidence that everything we do, matters, and everything that we choose not to do, matters just as much (and even in some cases, it matters more). Because in the great scheme of things, we sometimes don’t realize the importance of how taking action and being present could take us to greater altitudes.
Now imagine that I tell you that you’re gonna have your dream job/life and you’re gonna find your soulmate just by saying hello to the next person you meet on the line of the coffee shop. It could sound a little unreal, right? But how about if I tell you that you could’ve had your dream job/life and found your soulmate if you would’ve just said hello to the next person you met on the line of the coffee shop. That hits deeper, right?
It’s not about doing everything all at once, it’s about taking the opportunities that life gives you and having the courage of going for what you want, because you never know, on any given day, at any given time, your life could change forever, maybe just by saying hi to the right person, going to the right place, learning the right skill, moving to the right city, starting the right business…
But no matter what you do, in the end, it’ll all be traced down to the present moment.
So what are you gonna do now?
Writer: Braulio Monforte
