What Is the Butterfly Effect?
添加时间：2020-07-17 23:01:13 浏览：3499
The butterfly effect is a common idea in science fiction today. But its roots are in real science.
In 1972, a meteorologist named Edward Lorenz spoke at a convention. He asked an important question: "Does the flap of a butterfly's wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?"
Did Lorenz really think the flap of a butterfly's wings could start a tornado? Of course not! His question was a metaphor. It explained how small changes and actions can lead to unpredictable results.
Today, many people use it to explain how a small action can start a chain of events. Those events can lead to larger and unpredictable effects.
For example, imagine you've traveled thousands of years into the past. You're walking through a swampy jungle, hiding from a velociraptor. A mosquito lands on your arm and you swat it. You kill the bug. No big deal, right? It's just one mosquito.
Wrong! Killing that mosquito could have had major consequences in mosquito evolution. That could cause them to be very different or not exist at all in the time you came from. How would that affect all other life on the planet? It's unpredictable.
But don't worry, you don't have to time travel to see examples of the butterfly effect. Consider small actions you might take in your everyday life.
What about recycling a plastic bottle? Or planting a tree? You may not be able to predict the effect these small actions can have. Small changes today can have unpredictable consequences for the future.