Grow Your Planetary Intelligence--The Butterfly Effect and the Power of Your Attention

The Butterfly Effect is a concept from chaos theory that postulates that even small events can have big effects. In this case, according to the laws of chaotic dynamics, a butterfly flapping its wings over the Amazon rainforest can effect the weather in China. This is because under the right conditions, even small changes in a system can lead to big changes somewhere else in that system. Tiny perturbations can lead the system to rapidly change its entire form and structure. The Butterfly Effect reminds us of the subtle effects of all the decisions and actions we take on our larger environment. This goes contrary to our modern mindset that respects sheer power over subtle quality. This encourages us to ignore little details that we think don't matter so much. However, one only has to recall to mind recent disasters of the space shuttles Challenger and Columbia both of which suffered fatal damage from seemingly innocuous and minor defects such as O-ring design or heat tile adhesion. In both tragic cases, these tiny defects cascaded together to become catastrophic failures. In sociological speak, these technologies are known as “tightly-coupled systems:” the parts are all closely connected and interact in non-linear ways. Nowadays, our whole planet is a tightly-coupled system. Every action we take has the potential to create effects larger than we ever anticipated. And similarly, seemingly irrelevant relationships and processes can have important consequences on distant parts of the system. By paying attention to our own attention, on the silent spaces and empty passageways between seemingly more important objects and events, we can cultivate our planetary intelligence and learn to observe the entire life process, not just the outcomes that we have been trained to look for or expect to see.