Chaos Is Just So COOL!
Chaos is so cool!
Well, geez, that’s a wonderful way to begin, pushing all your readers away with the mention of chaos. I mean, who needs more chaos? Not me. Do you? Likely not.
Point made.
So why begin with chaos, having just dissed its very mention?
Because, because, I just now realized there’s magic in chaos! I absolutely adore the idea of magic: “apparently influencing the course of events by using mysterious forces.”
I am totally lost.
This is how my speeding locomotive of thoughts began. For whatever reason (likely, the most recent batch of unsettling news headlines), I was thinking about how often I say “Hey” to people. I mean, people everywhere: on the street, in stores, pick your place. I’m just a “Hey” kind of gal, a friendly greeter of everyone I meet. Anyone who crosses my path, generally, gets a “Hey.” Period. (Look, I’m a native Texan. “Hey” comes with the territory.)
Suddenly, it occurred to me that maybe my “Hey’s” are teeny-tiny vocalizations helping to nurture the world. (Ok, yes, I’m a bit grandiose at times.) Feeding a parched world, one “Hey” at a time. Oh, sure. Right. Next subject.
No, no, seriously. (This is the point at which my sense of putative magic enters the picture.) Ever heard of the Butterfly Effect? Oh, you must’ve heard of the Butterfly Effect. A butterfly flaps its wings in Tokyo, eventually causing a tornado in Oklahoma? Come on!
How ‘bout them apples? Here you go, my recently fallen-in-love-with chaos theory, clothed in the simple guise of a butterfly, making waves way beyond its own sphere. “The interconnectedness of everything in the universe means …..even the smallest action can have far-reaching and unpredictable consequences.”
Woo-wee!
Yep, there’s that dainty golden butterfly, twitching its wings in Tokyo, and unbelievably, whipping up a tornado in Oklahoma.
Oh, right.
Hello, it’s just an analogy.
And….friendly Ph.D physics folks seem to agree that “just a small change (butterfly, butterfly!) in initial conditions can drastically change the long-term behavior (tornado, tornado!) of a system.” Ta dah!
Meaning, in my world of quasi-magical beliefs, the plethora of all my “Hey’s,” shared with just about anybody, could truly be world impacting. Or what about the smile on my face when I’m looking out my living room window at all the trees? Could my smile be a putative butterfly influencing events, way beyond my capacity to know?
Food for thought….