We have met the Devil of Information Overload and his impish underlings, the computer virus, the busy signal, the dead link, and the PowerPoint presentation.
James GleickRead
Tiny differences in input could quickly become overwhelming differences in output.... In weather, for example, this translates into what is only half-jokingly known as the Butter- fly Effect—the notion that a butterfly stirring the air today in Peking can transform storm systems next month in New York.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Small changes can lead to significant consequences over time.
This quote highlights the concept that minor variations in initial conditions can drastically impact outcomes, as illustrated by the Butterfly Effect. It suggests that seemingly trivial actions or events can result in major changes, emphasizing the interconnectedness and sensitivity of complex systems, like weather patterns and even broader life events.
Themes
Butterfly EffectChangeSmall DifferencesConsequencesSystems
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a talk about climate change to illustrate the importance of small actions.
More from James Gleick
All quotes →A good part of 'The Information' is about the transition from an oral to a literary culture. Books effected such a great transformation in the way we think about the world, our history, our logic, mathematics, you name it. I think we would be greatly diminished as a people and as a culture if the book became obsolete.
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I'm trying to look at many, many things in modern life that I believe are going faster, and I'm trying to look at why they're going faster and what effect they have on us. We all know about FedEx and instant pudding, but it doesn't mean we've looked at all the consequences of our desire for speed.
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Everything we care about lies somewhere in the middle, where pattern and randomness interlace.
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Every time a new technology comes along, we feel we're about to break through to a place where we will not be able to recover. The advent of broadcast radio confused people. It delighted people, of course, but it also changed the world.
James GleickRead
"Half genius and half buffoon," Freeman Dyson ... wrote. ... [Richard] Feynman struck him as uproariously American-unbuttoned and burning with physical energy. It took him a while to realize how obsessively his new friend was tunneling into the very bedrock of modern science.
James GleickRead
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