Imagine the burden of carrying such responsibility on your shoulders. My theory is that the butterfly couldn’t take it, and committed suicide by deliberately provoking Alice. That’s our defense and we’re sticking with it!
I’ve never subscribed to this “butterfly effect”. There’s no way to know what effect an insect’s wings can have many miles away… I mean, what caused Tropical Storm Beryl? A butterfly in the rainforest, or me pouring a cup of tea in North Kensington?
Ignorance is bliss Alice, and you can’t unknow something; which is why Petey will be spending the summer in his room, reading a single page, over and over again.
The “butterfly effect” began as a flaw of too few sampling points. If I have a weather model, and only have 50 data stations in the U.S., a “butterfly flapping” near one station can make the model go haywire. No, the butterfly can’t cause a hurricane. But, yes, the butterfly can make the computer model show a hurrican.
The butterfly effect could be thought of as the inability to predict future events based on the available information and the modelling we use. Improve both a lot and we may eventually get somewhere with weather and climate change predictions, which get revised on a more or less annual basis. The “science” is barely in its infancy so far.
Please, folks, go read a book about Chaos Theory. Specifically, read “Chaos,” by James Gleick. If you knew and understood the Butterfly Effect, this comic would be hilarious to you. In a nutshell, the Butterfly Effect hypothesizes that if two exactly identical systems (let’s say two earths with exact same weather systems) were to play out over time, the weather would be identical on both. They are the same. But if a butterfly flapped its wings in ONE of those systems (one of the earths), in time the results would diverge and become radically different. The tiny difference in starting circumstances (the Butterfly wings), after weeks of development time, would lead to greater and greater effects, and after much time the weather would be totally different on the two planets, just because a butterfly flapped its wings on ONE of them. The total energy would still be about the same, but the location and types of storms would be completely different, thus the statement “a butterfly flaps its wings in Peking, and you get rain in Central Park.” It doesn’t mean immediately, but after many iterations of weather cycles. To understand why is to understand about Chaos Theory.
Templo S.U.D. almost 6 years ago
sure, Alice… self-defense
sirbadger almost 6 years ago
Alice flapping her arms would affect the weather just as much.
Liverlips McCracken Premium Member almost 6 years ago
Imagine the burden of carrying such responsibility on your shoulders. My theory is that the butterfly couldn’t take it, and committed suicide by deliberately provoking Alice. That’s our defense and we’re sticking with it!
tonypezzano almost 6 years ago
A butterfly with delusions of grandeur.
Sir Ruddy Blighter almost 6 years ago
I’ve never subscribed to this “butterfly effect”. There’s no way to know what effect an insect’s wings can have many miles away… I mean, what caused Tropical Storm Beryl? A butterfly in the rainforest, or me pouring a cup of tea in North Kensington?
ROY PICKETT almost 6 years ago
Or a college fraternity that had a bean burrito festival?!
Thomas R. Williams almost 6 years ago
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43290/the-second-coming W.B. Yeats
posstockhoarder almost 6 years ago
Blasting, billowing, bursting forthWith the power of ten billion butterfly sneezes
Andylit Premium Member almost 6 years ago
That girl will go far in the world….if they don’t hang her first.
DCBakerEsq almost 6 years ago
Ray Bradbury, we miss you.
bookworm0812 almost 6 years ago
Hey!
6turtle9 almost 6 years ago
Ignorance is bliss Alice, and you can’t unknow something; which is why Petey will be spending the summer in his room, reading a single page, over and over again.
joe19 almost 6 years ago
The “butterfly effect” began as a flaw of too few sampling points. If I have a weather model, and only have 50 data stations in the U.S., a “butterfly flapping” near one station can make the model go haywire. No, the butterfly can’t cause a hurricane. But, yes, the butterfly can make the computer model show a hurrican.
Sisyphos almost 6 years ago
Vain, boastful butterfly!
Now you know about the Alice Effect!
ctomcoll almost 6 years ago
Back in the day, it would have been a fart in a phone booth.
Ray Helvy Premium Member almost 6 years ago
The butterfly effect could be thought of as the inability to predict future events based on the available information and the modelling we use. Improve both a lot and we may eventually get somewhere with weather and climate change predictions, which get revised on a more or less annual basis. The “science” is barely in its infancy so far.
Mark Roberts almost 6 years ago
Please, folks, go read a book about Chaos Theory. Specifically, read “Chaos,” by James Gleick. If you knew and understood the Butterfly Effect, this comic would be hilarious to you. In a nutshell, the Butterfly Effect hypothesizes that if two exactly identical systems (let’s say two earths with exact same weather systems) were to play out over time, the weather would be identical on both. They are the same. But if a butterfly flapped its wings in ONE of those systems (one of the earths), in time the results would diverge and become radically different. The tiny difference in starting circumstances (the Butterfly wings), after weeks of development time, would lead to greater and greater effects, and after much time the weather would be totally different on the two planets, just because a butterfly flapped its wings on ONE of them. The total energy would still be about the same, but the location and types of storms would be completely different, thus the statement “a butterfly flaps its wings in Peking, and you get rain in Central Park.” It doesn’t mean immediately, but after many iterations of weather cycles. To understand why is to understand about Chaos Theory.
You’re welcome.