Chaos Theory & The Butterfly Effect

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Chaos theory is something you might have heard about. If you haven't heard of it, it states that what seems to be randomness in chaotic complex systems is often associated with underlying patterns, interconnections, and is highly sensitive to the initial conditions.

For non-science students, a chaotic complex system is any complex system that is made up of multiple factors influencing the outcome of such a system. Basically, such systems are represented as mathematical functions, and chaos theory suggests that the output of such mathematical functions (chaotic systems) depends on the sensitivity of the initial conditions.

The impact of initial conditions on complex systems has been discussed for a very long time. But a verifiable proof was established by the meteorologist Edward Lorenz in the 1960s when he was working on weather predictions. This is the best example I observed so far, despite the theory being extended to many other systems in many fields, including many manufacturing & distribution systems. 

When Edward Lorenz was studying the weather reports, he found that the output of the system varied drastically if the rounding off was made to 3 digits instead of 4 digits after the decimal. This later helped in predicting the weather more accurately and avoiding many catastrophes.

Later, the same approach was adapted and applied to many systems, where the initial outcome was predictable, but deviated over a period of time. Correcting a decimal or correcting an initial value by a decimal can change the outputs in many complex systems.

The word Butterfly effect was coined by Edward Lorenz to explain chaos theory poetically. He says that minute perturbations of a butterfly fluttering its wings can have an impact on the formation of a tornado after some weeks.

This is the first in the series of Interesting scientific theories I listed out. Please follow my WA channel to get updates about future posts.

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