The butterfly effect.
If you don’t know what it is, it is the idea of which a small action such as the flapping of a butterfly’s wings can cause a major impact or change of an outcome like a tornado. It may sound impossible but that’s not necessarily what happens, that's more of an easier way of explaining it. It’s the idea that a little moment or action you do can cause a major event to occur later in your life and make you think about that small occurrence that happened before.
But the thing that is also weird is I have heard scientists study that if you change stuff in the past it is still bound to happen in the future. It’s like the paradox: if you go back in time and stop your parents from meeting, what happens to you? Spontaneous combustion? Probably not more like your parents will just meet another time.
Think back to a time when a “hi” or a small kind gesture you did for someone turned into a lifelong friendship, or maybe they ended up helping you through something you were facing at the time. Have you ever thought about what could have happened if you didn’t say hi to them? How different your life could have been?. That is the Butterfly Effect.
The Butterfly Effect is the thought that a small change right now can cause a drastic change later in your life. It stems from multiple ideas of butterflies. One is how the flapping of a butterfly’s wings in Texas can cause a tornado in Mexico. And another is Ray Bradbury’s story “The Sound of Thunder.” This story talks about a group of hunters who are allowed to go back in time to hunt for dinosaurs, however, they are given very specific instructions on how to go around in the past. They cannot kill anything or touch anything apart from what has been touched since if they do, it will cause drastic changes. They find a dinosaur to kill, but one of the hunters gets startled and runs back down the path of the time machine. Once he returns back to the present he notices things are different, not the same as they were before;, something was off. He checks his boots and finds a beautiful dead butterfly that had been stepped on. He then proceeds to get shot by one of the time traveler workers.
The amazing capabilities of the butterfly effect also come with drastic anxieties that make you think of the possibilities that a simple “hi” can do for your life. Maybe you can think of how a small change can cause a drastic outcome in a bad way but you shouldn’t. Life keeps going regardless of the butterfly's wings flapping throughout your life.
I was inspired by a video I had seen on the butterfly effect and because I just have always been very intrigued by this topic. My writing process was just going and writing what came to mind, more often than not I just write something that sounds good and I save it for later if it doesn’t fit with what I am currently writing. I used repetition with my questions to add some lightheartedness to my piece. I structured this writing by talking about what the butterfly effect means, and then how it got its name and finally some stories I had heard about how it got its name. This video is very interesting and it is what gave me the idea to write about it. The Butterfly Effect
I have always thought about this theory and love the quote that "every action has an equal and opposite reaction" from Issac Newton. This really put the quote to perceptive and gives the reader a glimpse of what it means for a butterfly effect to happen.
--Itati Castillo
I like how the author uses the word drastic in his essay to emphasize that a person's actions can have a far-reaching effect on their future. The word drastic is very effective in the author's essay; it highlights the meaning of the Butterfly Effect. My favorite details in the piece was how the author uses an example of a story to further explain the Butterfly effect. In his example he states that It makes drastic changes if you touch or do something that you're not supposed to. It can change a person's fate. I notice that the author's writing style is very descriptive on using sensory details and repetition in his essay. This piece makes me think of how our life choices can have a great impact in our lives.
--Ashley Flores
When I read this piece I remembered of a movie I watched called "The Butterfly Effect" and i have always been so curious when it came to the topic. I like how he started the piece with "the flapping of a butterfly’s wings can cause a major impact or change of an outcome like a tornado", right when i read that part i was intrigued and wanted to keep reading!
--Lizbeth Serrato
I really liked how they took a topic like the butterfly effect and were able to make it into an essay. I also like that he used other examples to explain what the butterfly effect is and what could be a better way to understand it. This piece made me think about how easily the outcome to our future could be and how much it could changed by something so small that happened.
--Brandon Medellin
I like how he provided the definition along with how one experience or meet up with something can shift a whole aspect of someone's life.
--Nicolas Rios
¨It’s like the paradox: if you go back in time and stop your parents from meeting, what happens to you? Spontaneous combustion? Probably not more like your parents will just meet another time.¨ This piece just reminds me a lot and makes me think a lot due to the fact because I once had this thought in my head. Like what if my parents never met that day. What if they never had any children like how different would the world be? Like its only one person, but what can happen. But that piece is just a small masterpiece of its own.
--Luis Hernandez
This is a very cool essay not only because it defines what the Butterfly Effect is but because you gave some great examples.The sound of thunder is a great example that you gave and after all this is a great piece.
--Dennis Portillo
I love how the author gave specific examples to help the readers get a clear idea of what the butterfly effect is and how the little things are what create the big moments in your life, and used another piece of writing “The Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury to support his claim furthermore.
--Emma Garner
Small moments in your life can lead to even bigger outcomes which can lead to greater things. I also like how the author explained to the reader what exactly the butterfly effect is in simple terms. I also liked how he added the term “paradox'' following with an example to explain how he views the subject.
--Kennia Mundo
The idea of the "butterfly effect," had always fascinated me and I think this essay fleshes out the concept of it quite well. It's not the longest essay, but it is one that males you think a bit. That's cool.
--Wade Jones
What I like the most is the tittle since I think that it fits perfectly and also how the title is connected with the explanation. I have never really put thought into this and now that I have read this, I really started to question some events and it’s really a open mind situation I which your are left with the mystery.
--Daniela Salazar