The butterfly effect refers to the fact that a tiny event can cascade and cause a colossal event down the line. It’s called the butterfly effect because the idea is that even a gentle butterfly flapping its wings can be enough to set up a chain reaction down the line. In science, there is a term known as Chaos theory. It explains how unpredictable courses of events lead to an irregular and unpredictable evolution of events downstream. Essentially one event leads to another. Below are some ... The butterfly effect is the idea that small events can have big consequences on complex systems. Learn how it applies to weather, climate, ecology and human behavior, and how it differs from chaos theory. The Butterfly Effect One of the most famous examples of chaos theory is the butterfly effect , which suggests that something as small as the flap of a butterfly ’s wings could create tiny disturbances in the atmosphere that grow into large-scale events like a hurricane. The butterfly effect rests on the notion that the world is deeply interconnected, such that one small occurrence can influence a much larger complex system.
