You might have heard about The Butterfly effect during your science lectures. If not, let me tell you, It is actually an idea that connects small random things like a butterfly flapping its wings to major impactful events like the occurrence of a Tsunami. It says that a small change or action somewhere in the world may lead to such big changes somewhere completely different. The chances are of course less, but not zero.
This article will talk about such a phenomenon not from a geographical or scientific point of view, but rather from a psychological one. We will discuss how so small things shape the reality of who we are and who we are going to become in the future.
The Unnoticed things that define our identities.
Ever wondered how diverse the world is? How Similar yet so different we all are? How do our minds function in a similar way most of the time but yet so differently in other significant decisions? The similarity among us is major because of the trends or the said/unsaid rules of society and the world around us. Our topic of interest here is the thing(s) that makes us unique. These things are the results of very small decisions we or the people around us made. Or, in many cases the events, we witness, the things we observe in the course of our lives. These things differentiate between a killer and a savior, a soldier and a terrorist, and a true lover and a rapist. If we think carefully, we won’t find much of the differences in the physical appearances, or the day-to-day activities of those mentioned above. What makes a difference is how good they are with their decisions. Or how rational their thinking is. For instance, both a soldier and a terrorist get the training to defend themselves and kill the enemy. But, for one, the motive is to protect the innocent while for the other, it is to kill them. Maybe, the terrorist had been brainwashed during his childhood. Maybe, for him what he is doing is right. That one thing which was taught to him during his childhood turned what could be a soldier into a terrorist.
That one single decision changed him from an asset to a liability for the nation.
Similar is the case of a lover versus a rapist. But, in this case, the criminal mindset is more because of a person’s own wrong decisions and irrational thoughts. Both the lover and the rapist might be attracted to a girl. But, the former decides to simply tell her his feelings and respect her decision whereas the latter decides to impose himself on her. That’s how most criminals are made. Each and every person around us has the tendency of being a criminal, it's one small decision that you make that determines what kind of a person you are actually going to become.
How do the small things affect our professional lives?
Coming to how the butterfly effect applies to our professional lives as well. Ever wondered how you landed at the profession you are at? Was that the first thing you wanted to do as a child? Or is it something your childhood self would have never thought of? In both cases, the butterfly effect has played its part. If you landed your dream job, just think about the incident that made you dream about it. For eg, if you are a doctor, did you choose that career because someone taught you that they are responsible for saving and bringing lives? Or if you are a scientist or an astronaut there must have been something that triggered your heart to go for it and pursue your love for science. The discoveries of different people, the innovations that they brought to the world, something must have led you to this decision. Now, think about it. What if you are an Indian who framed his mind to work in sciences by constantly hearing about Kalpana Chawla, the girl who made India proud?
What if you didn’t know about her and all you knew was the cricket world cup that India won in 2011? There is a strong chance that your first dream job is strongly based on the people you idealise. And, so, if you land it, it actually has something to do with the root cause of your thoughts. So, if you are a cricketer today, you have the players of the previous generations to thank.
This is how two things that initially seem to be so random turn out to be connected. That’s how the butterfly effect impacts your professional life. Even if you did not get your dream job, you must have tried for other things. You could have filled out a random application form somewhere online which now led you to the job you are at today.
The butterfly effect on a small scale.
Till now we have talked about many large-scale effects of the small decisions in our life. But, if we observe carefully it is actually there in our daily lives. It's there and we don’t see it. It's completely hidden in plain sight. For example, let a person ‘A’ and another person ‘B’ be two friends who go to the same school on the same school bus. One day, ‘A’ decides to skip school and sleep for a few extra hours. ‘B’ went to school as normal. And, unfortunately, their bus meets an accident on the same day. Now, for ‘A’ that one small decision to randomly skip a day at school, saved him from that accident.
His fate could have been just as that of B. One small decision overcame all the similarities they had.
This is exactly the power of small things. This is the power that the butterfly effect has. All we need is to understand it properly. We should know that the randomness that is everywhere around us is so much more connected than we think. Everything we do, say, feel, etc. is going to play a role in the bigger picture.
That’s all for today. I hope the article was able to make its point.
Thank you!!!