Small changes can have incredibly large and unintended consequences, whether for good or for ill. And no matter how smart you (think you) are, there’s absolutely no way that you can predict all of the possible outcomes of your actions.
Today, we’re featuring some of the most dramatic real-life examples of the butterfly effect affecting people’s lives, as shared by folks online. It’s a riveting read, and it’s a reminder that there are so many things that we can’t control in life. Scroll down to see how even the smallest decisions can have a major impact on your future.
#1
When I was 3 years old, my father gave me a cheap, plastic toy airplane for Christmas. We didn't have much money, and my parents did their best. I fell in love with aviation because of that toy. I mean, I've been obsessed with it my entire life. This drove me to enlist as a helicopter mechanic and spend 10 years in the army. Last year, my love of aviation drove me to buy a ticket, that I could barely afford, to the annual air show. It was there that I met a representative from a helicopter flight school and learned that I could use my G.I. Bill benefits to pay for flight school. Now, I'm a private helicopter pilot and I'm working towards additional ratings. All because we were really poor when I was a child. My dad ended up giving me the greatest gifts a parent could give a child when he gave me that toy plane...imagination and passion.
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52points
#2
The Butterfly Effect with media acceleration: An unknown MD in the UK does a very unscientific study of the relationship of innoculations to the instance of autism. Because he's not scientist his bumbling leads him to conclude that there is not only a relationship but a causal relationship and vaccinations are responsible for the reported rise in autism. A media b***o who gets press access because of her big hard implants has a child she mistakenly thinks is autistic and broadcasts the bumblef**k doc's "study" as fact. As Mark Twain said, "A lies can go around the world two and a half times before the truth can get it's pants on." and before you know it hundreds of thousands of parents all over the world were bringing back epidemics of diseases like measles which had been eradicated. When the bumbling doc got his license yanked for malpractice the media didn't even notice.
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41points
#3
On Monday, September 10th, 2001 my father received a call to let him know his job interview for tomorrow had to be postponed until that Thursday. Because his would-be employer had overbooked his schedule, my father was not in the World Trade Center when it went down.
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29points
The Decision Lab explains that the idea of the butterfly effect is rooted in chaos theory. At its core, it posits that tiny changes in systems can create large and non-linear consequences elsewhere, over time.
You could, for example, completely change your career when you accidentally go to a coffee shop and meet someone who works at your dream company, landing you a job interview. Your life would look very different if you had, for instance, gone to the coffee shop next door or decided to brew a cup of coffee at home. Your life could be even better. It could be worse. But, at the end of the day, you don’t quite know what would have happened.
The metaphor that you’ve likely heard before, about how the flap of a butterfly’s wing can cause a tornado in another corner of the world weeks later, was used by mathematician and meteorologist Edward Norton Lorenz.
#4
I picked a book off a bookshelf, largely at random, off a bookshelf when I was 15. Got my best friend into the series. Years later, while in med school, he meets a girl through the series fangroup and thinks I might be interested in meeting her. That girl and our children are sitting in the living room right now, each reading our own thing.
Best wingman ever.
Best wingman ever.
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24points
#5
I left the house 5 minutes late in 2005 when I was supposed to be catching a greyhound bus to Arizona from North Carolina. As a result, I ended up in a ditch because I was run off the road by a car driving the opposite direction in my lane. Instead of going back to Arizona, I stayed to pay off the damages to my step fathers vehicle. At the job I got to pay off those damages, I met my fiancee. If I had left the house even 30 seconds before or after the time I did, I would have missed the encounter that put me in the ditch and I would not be here with her today, and that is crazy to think about. Those 5 minutes changed everything about my life.
And the more I think about that, the more I realize that as we get older, the events we experience are more and more improbable, requiring so many of these little butterfly effects to occur in just the right way. Things I will do tomorrow will have another day of random chance involved that today's events won't. I guess in a way that means every day is life changing. We just don't know how much because all these little ripples seem so insignificant when they occur.
And the more I think about that, the more I realize that as we get older, the events we experience are more and more improbable, requiring so many of these little butterfly effects to occur in just the right way. Things I will do tomorrow will have another day of random chance involved that today's events won't. I guess in a way that means every day is life changing. We just don't know how much because all these little ripples seem so insignificant when they occur.
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21points
#6
Traffic jams are often caused by a short braking of the frontmost car.
20points
However, licensed clinical social worker and the cofounder of Charlie Health, Caroline Fenkel, DSW, LCSW, warns that focusing too much on the butterfly effect can potentially lead to anxiety, overthinking, and fear.
“When the butterfly effect is misunderstood as a guarantee that small choices always have monumental consequences, it can lead to hyper-responsibility or magical thinking, believing that forgetting your umbrella could somehow lead to missing out on your life’s purpose,” Fenkel told Verywell Mind.
Meanwhile, relationship therapist Cheryl Groskopt, LMFT, LPCC, adds that magical thinking adds a lot of pressure on someone. They think that every small decision is vital, so they become hypervigilant and can even shut down because they’re scared of doing something wrong.
This sense of hyper-responsibility can lead to lots of regret and self-blame, Fenkel explains.
#7
A close friend smoked two packs a day. Every day, he'd walk to the 7-11, buy a couple packs, and walk home. He wouldn't buy cartons for some reason. Liked to change his brand occasionally I guess.
Anyway, his apartment was right across the street from the 7-11, and he would always take the same stoplight, etc. Smoke a cigarette on the way over, hang out outside the 7-11 to finish it, throw it in the garbage, then walk in, buy two packs, and smoke one on the way home. The guys at the 7-11 knew him by name, loved the guy. He was always friendly, and they knew his schedule. Home from work around 7, come over, grab a couple packs. Sometimes grab a six pack of beer.
So eventually he decides to quit smoking. Has a tough time of it. Tells the guys at the 7-11 he wants to stop smoking and they tell him good luck and encourage him. They encourage him so much they refuse to sell cigarettes to him when he has a moment of weakness.
He freaks out, heads back across the street in anger without waiting for the light, gets clipped by a motorcycle speeding through the intersection.
Motorcycle crashes, rider is tossed. Ambulances come - both head to same hospital.
Turns out motorcycle is ridden by a guy who runs his own construction business. Feels pretty bad about it. Talks to my friend about his business - my friend hangs drywall, but doesn't like his boss. Eventually rider hires friend at a higher salary. Friend has good job for a bit.
Two years later friend is doing very well, promoted numerous times, now has a team of guys working for him. Gets a phone call - boss was in a motorcycle accident, in hospital. Friend rushes there directly. Boss ends up being paralyzed, has some brain damage from a concussion that slurs/slows his speech.
Within a few weeks Boss has friend running the business for him. Friend is doing great. Business is doing great. Boss decides to sell the business to my friend. He decides to take it over and buy it. Friend now owns construction business and has grown it a lot. A few years later my friend gets an offer to sell the company to a larger company. Takes the money.
My friend is 42 years old and retired, worth over $10M now. All because he quit smoking. Well, and because he worked his a*s off when the opportunity arose. But still - if he hadn't decided to quit smoking - who knows?
Anyway, his apartment was right across the street from the 7-11, and he would always take the same stoplight, etc. Smoke a cigarette on the way over, hang out outside the 7-11 to finish it, throw it in the garbage, then walk in, buy two packs, and smoke one on the way home. The guys at the 7-11 knew him by name, loved the guy. He was always friendly, and they knew his schedule. Home from work around 7, come over, grab a couple packs. Sometimes grab a six pack of beer.
So eventually he decides to quit smoking. Has a tough time of it. Tells the guys at the 7-11 he wants to stop smoking and they tell him good luck and encourage him. They encourage him so much they refuse to sell cigarettes to him when he has a moment of weakness.
He freaks out, heads back across the street in anger without waiting for the light, gets clipped by a motorcycle speeding through the intersection.
Motorcycle crashes, rider is tossed. Ambulances come - both head to same hospital.
Turns out motorcycle is ridden by a guy who runs his own construction business. Feels pretty bad about it. Talks to my friend about his business - my friend hangs drywall, but doesn't like his boss. Eventually rider hires friend at a higher salary. Friend has good job for a bit.
Two years later friend is doing very well, promoted numerous times, now has a team of guys working for him. Gets a phone call - boss was in a motorcycle accident, in hospital. Friend rushes there directly. Boss ends up being paralyzed, has some brain damage from a concussion that slurs/slows his speech.
Within a few weeks Boss has friend running the business for him. Friend is doing great. Business is doing great. Boss decides to sell the business to my friend. He decides to take it over and buy it. Friend now owns construction business and has grown it a lot. A few years later my friend gets an offer to sell the company to a larger company. Takes the money.
My friend is 42 years old and retired, worth over $10M now. All because he quit smoking. Well, and because he worked his a*s off when the opportunity arose. But still - if he hadn't decided to quit smoking - who knows?
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18points
#8
In 1968, the Buffalo Bills lost a game by missing an easy touchdown. That year they went 1-12-1, which was the worst record of any team that year. That meant they got the first pick in 1969 draft, and used it on USC runningback O.J. Simpson. O.J. lives in Buffalo for the coming years, meets his wife Nicole Brown, and later probably ends her. For his trial, he hires Rob Kardashian as his defense. They win the case in controversial fashion, making Rob and his family somewhat famous. Then 12 years later, Kim releases the tape and she becomes famous.
tl;dr: If the 1968 Buffalo Bills hadn't missed a touchdown, then the Kardashians might not have become famous.
tl;dr: If the 1968 Buffalo Bills hadn't missed a touchdown, then the Kardashians might not have become famous.
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17points
#9
Star Trek: Voyager writers wanted to add a new character to contrast with the captain. Jerri Ryan got the part, and the separation placed a strain on her marriage, that eventually resulted in divorce. The divorce/custody proceedings lead to some rather nasty facts about her husband to come to light, resulting in him withdrawing his candidacy from the United States Senate for Illinois. His main rival went on to win, and from there, went on to become the first ever black president of the United States of America.
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17points
However, the positive side of the butterfly effect is that it reinforces that our actions matter, even though we can’t control many (or most) things. This motivates you to live more mindfully and intentionally
“The butterfly effect reminds us that even our smallest actions have the potential to create change. It acknowledges that while we can’t predict every ripple, we can act with kindness, awareness, and purpose, trusting that those small acts matter—even if we never fully see how,” Fenkel says.
On top of that, if you frame the butterfly effect correctly, you start to accept that many events are outside of your control. And so, you become more flexible and resilient when things don’t go your way.
#10
Supposedly Henry Tandy, a British soldier in WW1 spared the life of a young wounded enemy soldier. Apparently he took aim but decided he couldn't shoot a wounded man. This wounded soldier was Adolf Hitler. Historians have challenged the validity of this story, but if it is actually true then is probably the biggest flap of a butterfly's wings in history.
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15points
#11
**A stroke saved my friend's life.**
She suffered a stroke. The doctors put her on blood thinners to prevent another stroke.
The blood thinners caused an undiagnosed polyp in her colon to bleed.
The blood in her stool prompted her to get a colonoscopy.
The colonoscopy found the polyp, and many others, and they were **cancerous**.
The polyps were removed, she's doing fine now.
But the doctor said that if the polyps were not found, they would have developed into colon cancer.
So the stroke saved her from having colon cancer.
She suffered a stroke. The doctors put her on blood thinners to prevent another stroke.
The blood thinners caused an undiagnosed polyp in her colon to bleed.
The blood in her stool prompted her to get a colonoscopy.
The colonoscopy found the polyp, and many others, and they were **cancerous**.
The polyps were removed, she's doing fine now.
But the doctor said that if the polyps were not found, they would have developed into colon cancer.
So the stroke saved her from having colon cancer.
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15points
#12
Not mine but my aunt.
She was always, *always,* on time to everywhere. It’s trauma left over from her childhood. She lived in the Bronx and worked in lower Manhattan (that’s like a 45/60 min subway ride) so she usually had to get up pretty early to get to work on time.
One night, the power in her building went out. Zero idea why, to this day she lives in the same building and no one knows why/it was the only building affected. Her digital alarm had reset when the power came back on at dawn so her alarm did not wake her up. She woke up at 7:30AM, with 30 mins before she should be at work.
Panicking, she got ready and ran to the subway. The subway by her apartment was having maintenance issues and she got stuck for 20 mins three stops away. For the first time in her *life* (she *loves* her job) she called into work sick saying she’d be in too late and would work overtime the next day.
She walked back to her apartment and fell asleep. She woke up about 4? hours later when one of my other aunts was pounding on her door. She answered the door, my other aunt was hysterical because she hadn’t been answering her phone.
And that’s how a weird electrical mishap caused my aunt’s alarm clock to reset, making her late, missing her train, and avoiding being in the building next to the World Trade Center on 9/11.
She was always, *always,* on time to everywhere. It’s trauma left over from her childhood. She lived in the Bronx and worked in lower Manhattan (that’s like a 45/60 min subway ride) so she usually had to get up pretty early to get to work on time.
One night, the power in her building went out. Zero idea why, to this day she lives in the same building and no one knows why/it was the only building affected. Her digital alarm had reset when the power came back on at dawn so her alarm did not wake her up. She woke up at 7:30AM, with 30 mins before she should be at work.
Panicking, she got ready and ran to the subway. The subway by her apartment was having maintenance issues and she got stuck for 20 mins three stops away. For the first time in her *life* (she *loves* her job) she called into work sick saying she’d be in too late and would work overtime the next day.
She walked back to her apartment and fell asleep. She woke up about 4? hours later when one of my other aunts was pounding on her door. She answered the door, my other aunt was hysterical because she hadn’t been answering her phone.
And that’s how a weird electrical mishap caused my aunt’s alarm clock to reset, making her late, missing her train, and avoiding being in the building next to the World Trade Center on 9/11.
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14points
Which of these stories captivated you the most? What are some examples of the butterfly effect in your own lives, dear Pandas? What were the consequences? Does the butterfly effect empower you or demotivate you?
We’d like to hear from you, so if you have a moment, share your thoughts in the comments down below. You never know how doing that might change the course of your life!
#13
My friend asked me if I wouldn't mind setting up an IRC server for him, his boss had asked him to do it and he hadn't done it before but knew I'd done it recently. 15 minutes work.
* The server was for a client, he said it was cool if I wanted to make myself and IRC Operator and hang out on the server.
* I was about to drop out of University, his client and his boss was impressed enough I knew Linux and could quickly implement an IRC server so offered me a job. My first proper IT job.
* Made some friends on that server, one of whom I ended up starting a relationship with.
* Two years later I moved to the USA to marry her
* Used my experience from that first IT job to land myself a job in the USA and that started my career here.
* Got my green card soon after, now I'm a US citizen.
* 22 years later, we have three kids and are still together.
Sometimes doing a favor for a friend can have very big consequences!
* The server was for a client, he said it was cool if I wanted to make myself and IRC Operator and hang out on the server.
* I was about to drop out of University, his client and his boss was impressed enough I knew Linux and could quickly implement an IRC server so offered me a job. My first proper IT job.
* Made some friends on that server, one of whom I ended up starting a relationship with.
* Two years later I moved to the USA to marry her
* Used my experience from that first IT job to land myself a job in the USA and that started my career here.
* Got my green card soon after, now I'm a US citizen.
* 22 years later, we have three kids and are still together.
Sometimes doing a favor for a friend can have very big consequences!
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14points
#14
After the Boston Tea Party of 1773, large numbers of Americans switched to drinking coffee during the American Revolution because drinking tea had become unpatriotic.
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13points
#15
There's a great book on this type of thing called "Black Swan". It's essentially a highly unpredictable result or occurrence that wildly deviates from the expected. A pretty popular example of this is Roe vs Wade which essentially decriminalized abortion in America. This occurred in 1973. Later on in the late 80s and 90s It was expected that crime rates in the early 90s would continue to rise far beyond what the penal system was prepared to handle. However, there was a stark decrease in crime. One possibility is that those individuals who would have had kids, who statistically speaking, were likely to contribute to the growing crime rate never did because they were allowed to have abortions.
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13points
#16
Was in film school. I privately asked my professor about film festivals before class one day. She told me we'll talk about that later (she never did), but asked if I knew about Linda's project (a fellow student). I talk to Linda. Get a job on the production she's working on. Meet a musician who works at the studio. Ask if he needs an assistant. Basically pulls the same move my professor did, saying we'd talk about it later, but asked if I knew about this movie in town. He suggests I go down in the morning and apply. Go down at 7AM. Set dressers were gearing up to leave. I ask where to apply, and the boss takes me to someone in the office. Got shrugged off. As I'm leaving, that same boss asks if I'd be able to help for a day or two, right before they jumped in the truck and left. Come in the next day. They fire someone they hated and replaced them with me. Sign me into the union.
Flash foward a few years and I get a text asking if I could work on set (never done it before), and only knew my name because they looked at the roster of a period piece shot a few years prior. I was on that list, despite only working the last 4 days of the movie. They texted that list and I was the first to reply. Worked on set. My on set career blew up from that point.
Flash foward a few years later and I'm in Iceland, on top a glacier, hanging out with Chris Pratt and JK Simmons. All because I asked my professor if we would ever talk about film festivals.
Flash foward a few years and I get a text asking if I could work on set (never done it before), and only knew my name because they looked at the roster of a period piece shot a few years prior. I was on that list, despite only working the last 4 days of the movie. They texted that list and I was the first to reply. Worked on set. My on set career blew up from that point.
Flash foward a few years later and I'm in Iceland, on top a glacier, hanging out with Chris Pratt and JK Simmons. All because I asked my professor if we would ever talk about film festivals.
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13points
#17
Okay maybe not a *small* action, but an instance of the butterfly effect nonetheless.
August 1945, at the tail end of World War 2, Hiroshima and Nagasaki Japan are nuked. This of course causes a deep economic depression in Japan (to match the deep craters in the ground where cities once stood).
For years, Japan tries to get back on it's feet, but the economy is so bad that not only have living conditions in general deteriorated, but nobody has any drive to *try* improving things because there is virtually no such thing as entertainment in post-WW2 Japan, and what little there is, is very expensive and cannot be afforded by most of the population, who can barely even afford rice to feed themselves. Japan is in a deep state of depression, and not only a financial one, but an emotional one.
Enter Osamu Tezuka. In 1952, Tezuka decides to create a comic to entertain the Japanese public, in order to make them happy enough to work to get Japan back on track. He creates Tetsuwan Atom, known as Astro Boy in the west, and prints it on the cheapest, lowest quality paper with the cheapest, lowest quality ink, in order to sell it for dirt cheap, so that the poor Japanese public can afford it.
It becomes a massive success. It gets Japan out of it's emotional depression (and partially gets it out of it's economic one) and spawns dozens of imitators over the next few years, who largely try and imitate Tezuka's art style in order to cash in on the popularity of Tetsuwan Atom.
This forms the basis of the Japanese *manga* (comic) industry, and later spawns animated adaptations of many of these manga, known as *anime*. The industry continued to grow, and continued to encourage Japanese people to work hard so they could buy these ever-popular comics, which caused a massive economic boom over the next few decades.
And today, Japan is the go-to place for technology, video games and of course, their wacky anime and manga.
**tl;dr: Hitler is directly responsible for the creation of Anime.**
August 1945, at the tail end of World War 2, Hiroshima and Nagasaki Japan are nuked. This of course causes a deep economic depression in Japan (to match the deep craters in the ground where cities once stood).
For years, Japan tries to get back on it's feet, but the economy is so bad that not only have living conditions in general deteriorated, but nobody has any drive to *try* improving things because there is virtually no such thing as entertainment in post-WW2 Japan, and what little there is, is very expensive and cannot be afforded by most of the population, who can barely even afford rice to feed themselves. Japan is in a deep state of depression, and not only a financial one, but an emotional one.
Enter Osamu Tezuka. In 1952, Tezuka decides to create a comic to entertain the Japanese public, in order to make them happy enough to work to get Japan back on track. He creates Tetsuwan Atom, known as Astro Boy in the west, and prints it on the cheapest, lowest quality paper with the cheapest, lowest quality ink, in order to sell it for dirt cheap, so that the poor Japanese public can afford it.
It becomes a massive success. It gets Japan out of it's emotional depression (and partially gets it out of it's economic one) and spawns dozens of imitators over the next few years, who largely try and imitate Tezuka's art style in order to cash in on the popularity of Tetsuwan Atom.
This forms the basis of the Japanese *manga* (comic) industry, and later spawns animated adaptations of many of these manga, known as *anime*. The industry continued to grow, and continued to encourage Japanese people to work hard so they could buy these ever-popular comics, which caused a massive economic boom over the next few decades.
And today, Japan is the go-to place for technology, video games and of course, their wacky anime and manga.
**tl;dr: Hitler is directly responsible for the creation of Anime.**
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12points
#18
-My Grandmother used to take me to theatre performances and encouraged me to take classes at a local community theatre.
-I have no talent so I went backstage at 15 and started in tech theatre.
- She challenged me that if I read Les Miserable, unabridged and give her a report on it she would pay for a trip for me to see the show in London and go see Paris.
- I read it, I went to London and Paris with my father for two weeks.
-This, along with my portfolio I built in that community theatre, landed me into a stellar university.
-The story of reading Les Miserable and being rewarded with going to Europe the University selected me to spend a semester studying theatre in London.
- Because I spent so much time abroad my first job out of college was a world tour with Sesame Street.
-I have since done a domestic Broadway tour and a short stint with Cirque du Soliel in Europe.
-I have been to 48 states and 30 countries doing a career I love because my Grandmother had me do a book report.
-I have no talent so I went backstage at 15 and started in tech theatre.
- She challenged me that if I read Les Miserable, unabridged and give her a report on it she would pay for a trip for me to see the show in London and go see Paris.
- I read it, I went to London and Paris with my father for two weeks.
-This, along with my portfolio I built in that community theatre, landed me into a stellar university.
-The story of reading Les Miserable and being rewarded with going to Europe the University selected me to spend a semester studying theatre in London.
- Because I spent so much time abroad my first job out of college was a world tour with Sesame Street.
-I have since done a domestic Broadway tour and a short stint with Cirque du Soliel in Europe.
-I have been to 48 states and 30 countries doing a career I love because my Grandmother had me do a book report.
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11points
#19
My dad has Crohn's disease and he was having a flare up.
My mom wasn't able to take him to the hospital so he asked my neighbor to drive him.
As they arrive at the hospital, my dad starts trying to exchange cell numbers with our neighbor EXCEPT - at that moment the neighbor started having a heart attack.
They were both still in the car and it was in drive still. My dad jumps into action in trying to stop the car (it rolled into some grass so fortunately nothing happened). A nurse was finishing her shift and saw what was happening and sprang into action, saving his life.
If my dad didn't have a flare up and need a ride to the hospital, Pete likely would have died at home :/.
My mom wasn't able to take him to the hospital so he asked my neighbor to drive him.
As they arrive at the hospital, my dad starts trying to exchange cell numbers with our neighbor EXCEPT - at that moment the neighbor started having a heart attack.
They were both still in the car and it was in drive still. My dad jumps into action in trying to stop the car (it rolled into some grass so fortunately nothing happened). A nurse was finishing her shift and saw what was happening and sprang into action, saving his life.
If my dad didn't have a flare up and need a ride to the hospital, Pete likely would have died at home :/.
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11points
#20
I had plans with my girlfriend for Saturday night a couple months back. I received a last minute call from my close buddy, inviting me to drive an hour and a half north of where I live to a party. I call my girlfriend, explain the situation, she said "Go ahead and have fun, I'm just filling out online job applications anyway, I'll just finish doing this. We can just see each other tomorrow on Sunday." I was so happy and relieved. I promised her a great night and had a couple gifts to give her as well. Things were going so good with this girl. As the night progressed (btw the party was F*****G AMAZING) I text her and ask her how things are going. She said that her friend was trying to drag her out, I encouraged her to go out, so she did.
I text her a couple hours later, no response. I call her, no answer. The next day, I call her a couple times, no answer. I text her, no response. She completely flaked on our date with no explanation. I find out a couple days later that she is in a relationship with a guy she had met that night when her friend dragged her out - and I encouraged her. They are now engaged.
TL;DR - I encouraged my girlfriend to go out with her BFF when she didn't really feel like going out because I was out and having a good time, she meets her current fiance and doesn't even bother to call me or text me back to let me know.
I text her a couple hours later, no response. I call her, no answer. The next day, I call her a couple times, no answer. I text her, no response. She completely flaked on our date with no explanation. I find out a couple days later that she is in a relationship with a guy she had met that night when her friend dragged her out - and I encouraged her. They are now engaged.
TL;DR - I encouraged my girlfriend to go out with her BFF when she didn't really feel like going out because I was out and having a good time, she meets her current fiance and doesn't even bother to call me or text me back to let me know.
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10points