Ripple effect

[loner-kid]

Has anyone heard about the ripple effect? It states that every action we do leads to a far greater action, for example a man sitting in the rain might fuel the imagination of a poet who goes on to write a poem which makes him famous. We aren't always aware of how we change the world and although it might seem that our existence is pointless and that we'll never change anything in reality we change everyone we meet and in turn they change us and others and because of this even a simple chat could directly affect how someone deals with a certain situation. Anyway, thoughts?

[Bleachfangirl]

Oh, I believe that things you do create different paths that you and others will have to chose and walk down later in life. It's like in those games where the things you do at one point will effect the rest of the game's play and the fate of other characters. It's because all experiences add to people's different memories and helps to form more links between their thoughts. Ever little thing they do or say matters. Even the things other people do and say are soaked into their minds and affect their thoughts.

Sometimes, a person's actions don't affect another's right away or greatly, but they do at least a little bit. As long as it's there, it's there. A simple chat could totally change someone's opinion on a subject. A simple act of kindness could totally change a person's outlook on one day. Simply saying one unkind statement could do the same. Then, that person could go around being sour, ruining other people's days too. Then, those people could go home and be sour with their families, creating memories that their children will always think back on. Then, those kids could grow up to be certain types of people or parents that acted harsh because of how they remembered their parents.

It's pretty cool like that. Most of the time though, small, everyday actions (I don't think) don't dramatically affect people like that. The cool part is, we could never know. But I still think it's true. The ripple affect is there, because I don't believe anyone has a set fate.

[loner-kid]

Phew I'm glad you understood that, my explanation was really bad. The thing about the ripple effect is that a small conversation with no meaning when on its own, could change someone in such a way that while tiny it joins something far bigger and with far more meaning. I also think that we as humans have the ability to change our fates.

[Halie]

Hmm, this Ripple Effect is rather similar to the Butterfly Effect...

I do believe that we effect things in such a way, but I also think it depends on the person or situation that we're affecting. Like, for example, if a person were to walk up to a really insecure, neurotic kind of person, and start calling them hurtful names, then of course that person would feel worse than what a tough, I-Don't-Give-A-Crap-What-You-Think-About-Me type of person would feel. The insecure person would most likely have a bad outlook on the day and themselves, and they could also become very depressed if this bullying were to continue. Whereas, the tougher person would most likely be very much the same as they were before.

Sort of makes you think, really...if everyone could give even the tiniest compliment to that really insecure person, it could make them feel so much better...=/ if in fact this Ripple Effect is real. But either way, I still believe paying a small compliment can really help. And it's the same with everything else really, like giving a stuck-up kind of person a good kick up the back-side telling off could make them really realise how much of an up their own arse person they are, and they could become more modest.

Erm...yeah, I'll shut up now ^^;;

[Pete]

I dont know if I fully buy into it. I don't believe that if I step on a butterfly tonight, it'll lead to the entire downfall of the human race. Of course, the counter argument would be that the butterfly would somehow bring about the downfall of the human race if it were still alive. It's largely a game of catch-22's.

Granted, I do believe that there are certain turning points in life that whether you see them coming or not, the way in which you act will play a crucial role in your future. Take for instance deciding not to get behind the wheel drunk. By making that life decision, you possibly prevent one or more lives from possibly ending right then and there. There could have been a pregnant mom who would get hit by your drunk ass, and that kid could have developed a pill that cures cancer, aids and baldness. But no, you were an idiot and killed this mom and her unborn kid. That's where it gets to stretching it. And the thing that works with this train of thought is that it is somehow validified by saying "well you never know."

Or, in a much more plausible line of thought, your decision of which college you attend will absolutely have some bearing on your future. It will affect who your friends are and based on your experiences, what kind of person you may become. This is much more realistic.

But my decision to take Main St. home instead of Riverside Dr., coming home from school today, has no major bearing on the future. Now, if there were some horrific 10 car pileup on either street at the time I were driving on them, I may be signing a different tune.

The thing that I generally dislike about all of these what if theories, is that they're just that, "what if?", and largely validated by "well, you never know because you can't undo the past". You can argue anything and everything to come up with the conclusions that you wish to see.

Plus, by that very argument, you would have to change several intangibles.

"If we chose to never support the Taliban and Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan against the USSR in the 70s, 9/11 never would have happened, and we wouldn't be in Iraq."

This may or may not be true. If we didn't support them, we might be speaking Russian.

If we didn't support them, they might all have just died and 9/11 wouldn't have happened.

If we didn't support them, maybe the USSR would have bombed the towers.

See how it all gets really tricky and sticky?

What really happened was that the US supported anyone and everyone who was against the USSR. Of course, hindsight being 20/20, we should have known not to provide CIA training to Osama and his buddies. Nor should we have given them weapons and money, but hey, they weren't the enemy at that point. They only kinda got a little mad at us when we left them high and dry, and the Soviets almost decimated the majority of the Afghani fighters.

But yeah, can you see where I'm coming from with this?

[Sinister]

Careful, you're stepping close to the precipice of determinism. Haha!

But yea, it's doubtful that existence is wholly deterministic, where's the fun in that? I prefer to believe that each action presents a probability rather than a certainty. But if you are asking: is it possible for small actions to influence large events? Then, I don't really think that is a question.


-Sin

[Furore]

I believe in the Butterfly Effect. I believe I quoted it in another thread.
The ripples in this 'Ripple Effect' aren't even always hard to see as far as I'm concerned. Especially when they're the effect of one person on another in a large chain.

Well this could be a small example I guess, of the butterfly effect in motion anyways.

Say the motion of a person walking killed a microbe in the air. Now say that microbe was the same one who'd inhabit the body of the next person who would have walked along. Say in turn the microbe would mutate into a deadly strain with no cure inside that man's body. Continue the example with the deaths and illnesses of many. And all from something so small.

Oh it may never happen... But then it might.

[You]

I believe in the ripple effect but on a much smaller scale than people have been talking about and giving examples for here. All the examples so for are theoretically possible but the likelihood of them happening is extremely small. It would require circumstances to be perfect and down to the second timing, not to mention the right circumstances and luck. If you think on a much smaller scale it much easier to see and belive.
You see something in a park which makes think of something, you google or wiki it, it comes up in a conversation, it reminds someone else of something else they might have forgotten about or think of something, due to this they might say something that would land them in hot water or something. Therfore if you hadnt seen the thing in the park and researched it the other person wouldnt be in trouble. If you understand me! When you think about it as smaller eddies swirling around the universe its very easy to see and understand it can take place.