The Butterfly & The Hurricane

♣ A characteristic of chaotic systems is that aspects of the system that are small at one time can determine very large aspects of the system at a later time. This is the butterfly phenomenon: turbulence from the fluttering of a butterfly in Brazil can (though is of course fantastically unlikely to) weeks later cause a hurricane to befall the eastern seaboard. Innovation is similar: a fleeting thought held in the head of a single individual can years later expand into a social and economic revolution. Though butterflies in Brazil are beyond the reach of meteorological methods, it is feasible to identify those rare individuals who are more likely to have such thoughts. Thus, they are constantly in danger. They threaten whatever world order the establishment has constructed to preserve its advantages.♣