The Butterfly Effect is real. Not just in the physical universe we so much love and respect, but in the mental universe of Decision Space as well. Let’s see if we can figure out how this is possible just for fun.
I would say that the Butterfly Effect in the physical universe is a function of uncertainty in the first instance. Uncertainty emerges as a fundamental property of the fabric of which the physical universe is composed from little things like chaos theory and complex systems analysis. In a sense, the Butterfly Effect is the form that uncertainty takes in relation to our inability to sense the presence of the physical universe or to obtain measurable data regarding the physical universe in any or all of its manifold forms. The modeling implications are rather trivial by comparison, since all you need to model the universe is a perfect copy of the universe itself.
The Butterfly Effect in the mental universe of Decision Space operates on somewhat different terms. Unlike the physical universe, where the Butterfly Effect emerges from chaos as a fundamental limitation on knowing or describing or predicting future changes in the state of the physical universe as a system, in the mental universe of Decision Space the Butterfly Effect represents a wildly different kind of limitation or uncertainty. The Butterfly Effect in Decision Space has more of a dreamlike quality to it, a goal that can never be achieved, but which like all the colors of the rainbow appears to be quite near, and can be captured if one only takes the one more step necessary for its realization in both form and substance. A chimera which is both the only real goal in life, and one that can never be obtained. A paradox, a contradiction in terms, and the fundamental meaning of life itself. No one ever said the universe had to be fair.
The Butterfly Effect in Decision Space is intimately tied to McFadden decisions. McFadden decisions provide the most basic and fundamental goal of civilization in mathematical form. McFadden decisions mark the boundary between two distinct dimensional domains, those occupied by Normal Bass decisions and Strange Bass decisions. There are an infinite number of permutations that can produce McFadden decisions in theory, yet examples of pure McFadden decisions are very difficult to find in decision making practice.
One simple example of a practical McFadden decision is this:
Practical McFadden decisions are interesting in and of themselves, but in general have have little or nothing to do with the Butterfly Effect. Another paradox of traffic flow, ye gods!
Keech Ballard 