Sunday, October 05, 2008

Chaos Theory


The Butterfly Effect. No, not that crappy Ashton Kutcher movie, but Chaos Theory, specifically the work of mathematician Edward Norton Lorenz. Before I get into how this is relevant to what I am about to discuss, allow me to provide a simple explanation of the Butterfly Effect (and Chaos Theory, or a small part of it at least) for those who are unfamiliar with the terms or what they truly mean;

A Tornado plows through Kansas. A butterfly flaps its wings. The Butterfly Effect simply states that although the butterfly flapping its wings did not create the tornado, it possibly could have changed its course, or caused a large chain of events that could have caused small alterations in the tornado's behavior. The kinetic energy of a tornado is far too powerful to be stopped, or even created by a butterfly flapping its wings, but it is mathematically impossible for it to have absolutely no affect on the tornado. It is nature meets math, and although impossible to predict, there is always a cause-and-effect.

The reason I bring this up is simple; how did I get to where I currently am? How did you? Life is essentially Chaos Theory every second of every day, and every second a butterfly flaps its wings (even if only in our brains, and the effect is our reasoning), and life takes us where ever its kinetic energy chooses. Surely we are our own tornado's, and the way we spin towards our own path of destruction (read: live life) is mostly up to us, but sometimes a butterfly flaps its wings without our knowledge, and causes a chain of events that sets us on a whole new path. This would eventually lead into the argument over Free Will, but I do not want to make my head or yours explode. Just wanted to let out some thoughts that have been rolling around in my brain lately. And don't watch that stupid movie, it is horrible and will only destroy your mind and possibly your soul.

-B
can anybody tell me why God won't speak to me


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