It’s always fun to hear about magical coincidences and serendipitous moments, like when someone decides to take a last-minute road trip and ends up meeting the love of their life. On TikTok, many people call this “the butterfly effect,” suggesting a tiny change in the course of your day can lead you somewhere completely different. But the real butterfly effect is much more complex than that.
The butterfly effect is the idea that tiny actions can start a chain reaction that leads to a much bigger outcome down the line. “The name comes from the theory’s famous visual concept: that a butterfly flapping its wings on one side of the world could lead to a hurricane forming on the other side,” says Dr. Charles Sweet, MD, MPH, a psychiatrist and medical advisor at Linear Health. When you think of it as a ripple effect, it’s much easier to visualize.
This is why the butterfly effect isn’t something you’ll see play out immediately, like if you’re five minutes late to work one morning and, because of this, narrowly miss being in a car accident. That’s more in line with the “burnt toast theory,” which is when a minor inconvenience prevents something negative from happening. It also might be something you never witness directly. Here’s what to know about the butterfly effect, according to experts.
What Is The Butterfly Effect?
According to Olivia Dreizen Howell, a certified life and business coach, clinical hypnotherapist, and neurolinguistic practitioner, the butterfly effect is a concept that stems from chaos theory, which is all about expecting the unexpected.
“It’s the idea that one small action, especially in a complex system, can lead to unexpected and sometimes seemingly unrelated outcomes,” she tells Bustle. “Sometimes it gets mixed up with fate or destiny, when really it’s more about the natural unpredictability of interconnected events.”
What TikTok Is Getting Wrong
On TikTok, where the butterfly effect is going viral, many people are talking about the amazing things that have happened in their lives due to one small choice, like creator @kennysdigest, who talks about the fateful way she met her partner. This video, which has over 655,000 likes, tells a beautiful tale, but many argue it’s not an example of the butterfly effect.
In her comments, people were divided. Someone said, “This IS the butterfly effect. Everything had to happen exactly the way it did for it to work. Down to the weather being perfect and the extra stops… WILD.” In the replies, another wrote, “So zero chaos… quite the opposite of butterfly theory then.”
Other creators have talked about how they met their best friend because they randomly sat next to each other in second grade, or how they started a successful business because they threw caution to the wind and decided to post a video. While it seems like these instances are good examples of the butterfly effect — one small choice that led to a life-changing outcome — they’re much closer to cause and effect, fate, and destiny.
An Example Of The Butterfly Effect
To get an idea of how the butterfly effect might play out, let’s say a random stranger spits their gum on the sidewalk. You stroll by five minutes later and step on it. Disgusted, you panic and hobble over to a bench to scrape it off and accidentally step in front of a speeding bike rider.
As they swerve to miss you, the whole scene startles a barista in a nearby coffee shop, who pours hot coffee onto a patron’s lap. That person then has to go to the ER, where they strike up a conversation with the nurses and doctors.
Inspired by their careers, that person decides to go to med school. They end up making great discoveries in their field, all because someone totally unrelated spat out their gum — and they probably have no idea about the chain of events that started it all. In other examples of the butterfly effect, the chain reaction could be subtler, slower, or even more widespread.
Why The Butterfly Effect Is Interesting
The amazing thing about the butterfly effect is that you’ll likely never know how your small choices might impact someone on the other side of the world, and that’s why it’s a good reminder to be more mindful as you go about your day. While you can’t worry about every action you make, the lesson is that what you do does matter.
“One of the most beautiful things about life is how interconnected we all are,” says Dreizen Howell. “A kind word, a piece of advice, or even just showing up for someone can alter their day — or even their entire life — in ways you might never know. That’s the butterfly effect in action. It’s a reminder that even our smallest actions hold power.”
Sources:
Dr. Charles Sweet, MD, MPH, psychiatrist, medical advisor at Linear Health
Olivia Dreizen Howell, a certified life, business coach, clinical hypnotherapist, neurolinguistic practitioner
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