Butterfly Effect

Having just had a discussion relating the effect artists have on the world with the butterfly principle, naturally I had to do some sleuthing.

In chaos theory, the butterfly effect is the sensitive dependency on initial conditions in which a small change at one place in a deterministic nonlinear system can result in large differences in a later state. The name of the effect, coined by Edward Lorenz, is derived from the theoretical example of the details of a hurricane (exact time of formation, exact path taken) being influenced by minor perturbations equating to the flapping of the wings of a distant butterfly several weeks earlier.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_effect

And yes, of course, there is a blog devoted to the butterfly effect or principle:
http://thebutterflyprinciple.blogspot.com/

An article explaining why it is part of chaos theory:
http://fractalfoundation.org/resources/what-is-chaos-theory/

Here is an artists' exhibition on it:
http://www.galerierudolfinum.cz/en/exhibition/butterfly-effect#.U8FCnJRdV8E

Simply put, one small action on the part of any of us, artist or not, may have far-reaching and unanticipated effects.  Sobering thought.