Black Swallowtail Butterfly Effect

Last week I had been to the nursery to pick up some flowering plants. The nursery sales guy was explaining to me the plants which require minimal maintenance and easy to grow. And this butterfly kept diverting my attention. As soon as I saw it settle down on a plant at a distance I left the guy who was halfway through his explanations. Tiptoeing I went behind the butterfly to capture it in my lens and I am happy to say that I did some good job this time. It is a Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) butterfly.

Click on this, the best taken by me so far… each and every spot on it is clear.
As I was writing this post I was thinking the chaos these butterflies can cause by mere flapping of their wings. The Butterfly Effect as defined in Wiki states that the flapping of the wings of a Butterfly at one place can cause a devastating effect elsewhere in the world.

The butterfly effect is a phrase which encapsulates the more technical notion of
sensitive dependence on initial conditions in chaos theory. Small variations of the initial condition of a nonlinear dynamical system may produce large variations in the long term behavior of the system.

It was Lorenz, a meteorologist who mathematically proved that minor disturbances in initial conditions of atmosphere can trigger disastrous effects elsewhere. In 1972 he presented a study entitled “Predictability: Does the Flap of a Butterfly’s Wings in Brazil Set Off a Tornado in Texas?” Amazing isn’t it and hard to believe too. Edward Norton Lorenz fluttered away from the world two weeks back on 16th April 2008. RIP Edward Norton Lorenz.

Why not apply this Butterfly Effect to our lives, not to create chaos but to create happiness. A positive Butterfly Effect, it is possible trust me. Someone begins with a good positive thought, it influences ten people. These ten people further influence ten each and the positive feeling gets propagated. Sounds familiar like the Pay It Forward Movement?

I am reminded of my boss from my employed days, having this ever cheerful mood. It used to kind of rub off on us too and the whole team environment used to be so pleasant. It is very important for the team leader to have that kind of charm. Before we speak we must give a thought what effect it will have on the other person. The tiny positive efforts you take will definitely snowball and give the big positive impact to those around you. A thoughtless word or action from you can make or ruin the other person’s day. Not possible to be sweet everyday I know, and then those are the days I expect others to take over the role of starting a positive Butterfly Effect.

Update: The Indian Cricket team is very much in need of The Positive Butterfly Effect. Harbhajan and Sreesanth are you listening.

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