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30 Clear Examples Of The ‘Butterfly Effect’ On Real People, As Told By Themselves Online
In science, there has been a concept called the "butterfly effect" for many decades - when a completely random and seemingly insignificant impact as a result of subsequent situations has a key influence on all subsequent events. But theoretical science is far away - and we, mere mortals, are close. Well, many of us have actually experienced this effect in our lives.
When we do (or don't do) something completely small and don't attach any importance to it - until we finally realize that it was actually a turning point in our lives. As it turns out, this has happened to a lot of people - so here is a whole collection of fascinating and instructive stories by Bored Panda!
More info: Reddit
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
One night, my friends and I were driving around aimlessly like broke 20-somethings do, just talking about life and looking for a gas station with decent snacks. We pulled over on this random back road so one of us could pee, and there, sitting in the ditch like it was totally normal, was this tiny, filthy puppy with ears too big for its head and the saddest eyes I’ve ever seen. Everyone else said, ‘Let’s call a shelter,’ but something in me said, ‘Nope. This one’s mine.’ I wrapped him in my hoodie, bought him a Slim Jim from the gas station, and took him home. That dumb little mutt is now my best friend, emotional support animal, and the only reason I ever go outside. Funny how a snack run turned into a lifelong friendship.
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#2
I once missed my usual bus and took the next one, annoyed and half-asleep. On that bus, I sat next to a woman who was sketching in a notebook. Curious, I glanced over and complimented her drawing. She smiled, we talked. She turned out to be an illustrator working on a children’s book. I told her I wrote short stories as a hobby. She asked to read one.
Two months later, we were co-writing a book together. A year later, it got picked up by a small publisher. And somehow, I became an author—because I missed a bus.
#3
Decided to give dating a single mom a chance. I was dead set against having a kid, or dating anyone who had a kid. Didn't want to be a father or a step-father to anyone.
Then I met someone who I really clicked with that had a 6 year old daughter. She held off on introducing us until things got serious, and I (reluctantly) met this kid. Her bio-dad skipped town the day she was born, and that was the worst decision HE ever made.
Long story short, 25 years later I walked her down the aisle at her wedding.
ElfVibratorGlitter 6 months ago
"that was the worst decision HE ever made." Freaking onion ninjas.
It all started with this thread in the AskReddit community, where seven days ago, the user u/sharknurse simply asked the netizens: "What’s a small decision you made that unexpectedly changed your life forever?" So, as usual, a small question led to a large thread, with 3.9K upvotes and nearly 650 comments. Lots of stories, lively discussion - in short, the butterfly effect at its best.
#4
Adopted a cat instead of waiting for a dog at the shelter. That cat turned out to be the neediest most talkative creature ever kept me up so many nights that I started writing to pass the time. Three published novels later I owe my writing career to that furball.
NoRestfortheQWERTY 6 months ago
I'll bet you ten bucks the cat was a Siamese. Paco, my own Siamese, is much missed, but I'm sure that heaven is a noisier place these days.
#5
Owning a cat. I was depressed and always felt that I'm alone in this whole universe. One day, I decided to adopt a sickly cat that was roaming around my apartment and nursed her back to health. It's a really happy feeling coming home to someone who's happy to see you. Whenever I'm with her, it feels like everything's gonna be okay. I finally found a "purpose in life". Afterwards, I decided to seek professional help and things only got better afterwards.
#6
I was recently single and decided I wanted to go to a camping music festival, so I chose one somewhat at random and went by myself. I used to go to raves in my late teens/early 20s and the positive environment was good for my anxiety so I figured maybe I could recapture some of that. Well after the first day I found myself reclusive and regretting my decision to try to be a social human being.
On day 2, I heard someone from the large friend group next to my camp site ask "does anyone have any mustard?" No one responded so after what felt like way too long to me I said "I have mustard." They invited me to hang out and became my friends for the rest of the weekend.
I started casually chatting with one of the girls from the group over text since we lived in different states, 2 months later she invites me to go see Radiohead with her friends and we've been dating ever since. I'm planning to get her a ring this year, all because I had mustard.
The very concept of the "butterfly effect" was originally introduced by the famous American mathematician and meteorologist Edward Lorenz in the second half of the last century. According to his thought experiment, a butterfly flapping its wings in Iowa can cause an avalanche of effects that can reach its culmination during, let's say, the rainy season in Indonesia.
In turn, this concept appeared in Lorenz's head, most likely, thanks to the famous story by Ray Bradbury "A Sound of Thunder", where, if you probably remember, a butterfly also played a key role in the development of the plot.
#7
I answered a newspaper ad looking to hire for a new restaurant opening up soon. I was 15 at the time but desperate to pad my income besides my paper route. It was a long shot due to my age but I threw caution to the wind. The owners loved me and remarked how mature I was for someone that age. Instead of ending my life that summer as I had planned, I worked for the owners for another 6 years and will always appreciate them for teaching me what it was like to be surrounded by people who appreciated me and treated me as a human being and with dignity.
#8
I was in Turkey to get my teeth fixed. I had time to k**l so decided to book a medical tourism visit at a hospital in Istanbul— full body scan for obscenely less than what it would cost in the U.S. They found a mass in November 2024, now in chemo with stage 2 breast cancer.
I have no family history of breast cancer, no symptoms, and am also quite young so was not planning to get a mammogram anytime soon.
That casual decision likely saved my life.
Bi.Felicia 6 months ago
This is similar to what my mom is going through, minus the body scan. She was doing her routine exam in the shower and felt a lump. We have no family history, it's not genetic, not hormonal and if she didn't feel the lump, she didn't have any symptoms. She's currently receiving chemo for stage 3 triple negative breast cancer, with a lumpectomy to follow. She's doing well though and she's kicking cancer's àss.
#9
I never used to stay late to work. I started work at 4am so I'd always get off at noon. One day I just happened to stay late and visit my friend in another department who was an old Asian woman. Just as I was telling her goodbye, a girl in the department she was working in came to the backroom to go on her lunch. My friend started telling us we should go on lunch together. Obviously it was super awkward as neither of us wanted to put the other into a weird position. After some persuading by my old Asian friend, we decided to just to to lunch together.
We had a good time and at the end I was hesitant to ask for her number because I just wasn't that kind of person. But something told me to just ask her, so I did. She gave me her number and said the only reason she gave it to me is because it was her last day at that store. She didn't usually date co-workers.
We went on a date after that and several years later, we ended up marrying. She's my soul mate. For some reason I stayed late that day even though I absolutely hated work back then and never wanted to give more to a company than I had to. But I stayed late on the last day that I could have met my wife. Something told me that staying late that day would change my life, and it did.
I'm forever grateful to my friend and to my wife who makes me a better person in every way.
Kenneth Daniels 6 months ago
The world is a fantastic place! Hope you both enjoy each other from now on
To be absolutely precise, in that story, humanity invents time travel and, during one of these trips to the distant past to look at the dinosaurs, one of the characters accidentally crushes just a little butterfly.
And so, as a result of this - through a whole chain of events that happened over a hundred million years, upon returning from the journey, the hero discovers that his action unwittingly changed the entire course of history, leading to the victory of a completely different political party and a different leader in the elections in the country.
#10
Decided to tweet if any single ladies wanted to get dinner. One responded, we are now married, have an amazing son and live in Australia (met in the UK).
#11
Applied for a job in a completely unrelated field that I wasn't really qualified for when I finished uni. Popped up as a promoted ad on a job seeker website and I was really just looking to practice customising my resume and cover letter.
6 months later I was living in a completely different city and 10 years on I still love it and wouldn't change a thing.
#12
Decided to go on a solo trip to Nuremberg in 2017 because it was the cheapest flight from Manchester Airport using Ryanair. Met a Korean girl in the hostel I was staying at and kept in contact when I left. I've lived in Korea for 5 years now, and it's our one year wedding anniversary this Sunday.
Chewie Baron 6 months ago
I’ve flown from and to Manchester Airport. Flying into it is a nightmare. Crosswinds everywhere!
As for the stories presented in this list, two main plots prevail here: when people met completely by chance - and this gave rise to a wonderful and long-term relationship, and when someone, also by a happy coincidence, discovered a serious illness in themselves or someone close to them. The illness was cured thanks to timely intervention.
In other words, the vast majority of these stories really have happy endings, which once again proves how coincidences can make our lives way better.
#13
Checking a Gmail account I barely used. I had applied for a visa to go toCanada to work for a year and I was on the waiting list. Totally forgot about it. 3 months later I'm bored and decided to check the account and I had a fresh email from the Canadian embassy to please send them my passport and pay the 150$fee. Visa was approved! I've been living here for 10 years now! Happier than ever
#14
I was broke and needed money so I submitted some photos to an acting agency thinking maybe I could make some money as an extra. I remembered I did it as a kid one summer before college and getting paid for it pretty quickly.
I got called on to a film two weeks later and got linked with some pretty notable people. Four years have gone by now and I’m a professional actor. Completely changed everything for me and I never thought I’d love doing this. .
#15
I crashed my car in September 2020, couldn’t afford to replace it, and Ubers to and from work were too expensive combined with the fact that they didn’t service the area my workplace was in. I found a couple who were taking turns driving me and I paid them $150 a week for it, which worked great until December when their parents were due to fly in from out of state so they needed to quarantine. I was an essential worker in a residential group home, so the threat of exposure was pretty constant. They very helpfully offered to post on NextDoor to help find a replacement, and I got a few texts about the ‘job’. One of which was from a guy; I worked overnights and wasn’t sure about being alone with a man I didn’t know in a car at night, so initially I didn’t text back. A few days later, something urged me to, so I did.
We’ve been together for over 4 years now, have a beautiful and brilliant two year old son and we will be welcoming his little brother on Wednesday.
"Now I will try to dispel the romantic haze that surrounds such stories," says Irina Matveeva, a psychologist and certified NLP specialist, whom Bored Panda asked for a comment here. "In reality, we can only evaluate events many, many years later, so in any case, we perceive everything that happens, already knowing the outcome."
"For example, when evaluating the consequences of an invitation to a romantic dinner that ended in a long-term happy marriage, we actually proceed from this. That a completely unexpected small action led to good consequences. This is called the availability heuristic - that is, an assessment based mostly on our knowledge."
"On the other hand, literally any birth of any person, given the incredible number of probabilities even before their birth, looks like a real miracle. So if people like to believe in happy coinsidences, if they really help us live better and happier - so be it!" Irina sums up.
#16
My friend was supposed to pass by my house to pick me up to go out, he got a flat tire and he stopped to change it, so I was waiting him and decided to open the laptop to see what jobs are bring posted lately online (it was 2015 and online job hunting was beginning to be a trend, at least in my country). I saw an interesting job to which i clicked apply. needless to say, 10 years since then, i started working there, met my current wife there, now living abroad and having the best times of our lives. all of this happened because a tire got punctured.
#17
I decided not to go to a doctors in summer 2021 as I thought I had a viral chest infection that would just pass.
It transpired that I didn't have a viral chest infection, I had infective Endocarditis, a bacterial infection of the internal surfaces and valves of the heart.
Long story short, I came very close to dying from the IE, sepsis, multiple organ failure and several TIAs.
I lost my left leg below the knee and my right toes. 6 months in acute care, 3 in a specialist neurological rehab facility and another 15 months waiting for suitable housing.
I'm currently waiting for heart surgery to replace one valve and repair another.
#18
Adopting an 11 week collie puppy set me on a path which resulted in leaving a secure civil service job and starting a dog training business.
pelemele 6 months ago (edited)
https://www.dogster.com/dog-breeds/collie-vs-border-colliehttps://www.dogster....rder-collie.jpg
In any case, we are quite sure that you'll enjoy reading these inspiring stories from a variety of people. Well, and maybe when you'll be hesitating one day whether to do something very small and insignificant - you'll remember this post and do something that will lead you to happiness and prosperity. Who actually knows, because this life is beautiful because it's completely unpredictable!
#19
When I was 17 I was convinced by a friend to go to a local gig in a pub. I'd split up with my girlfriend a few weeks earlier and was pretty cut up about it, Not wanting to leave the house etc.
Met my now wife there. She told me I looked like Jack Black, but it's okay as she liked Jack black.
That was 20 years ago this year, I love her immensely we now have 2 amazing kids and I've never looked back.
How different life could have been if I didn't go to that pub.
I know most people wont see this edit with it being a day later, but in a weird coincidence.. I've just had a memory pop up... this was exactly 20 years ago today. S**t, how time flies.
#20
Decided to try a new route home from work one day because I was bored. Stopped at a small coffee shop I'd never noticed before. The barista there is now my wife of 6 years. All because I was tired of the same old drive.
#21
Told my sister that I've moved on and asked her to look for someone for me (as a joke, didn't think anything would come of it). 2 yrs later, I'm getting married to the most amazing random dude that she bumped into at a party 2 weeks after I spoke with her.
#22
In 1986 said yes to a date with the man I will celebrate 35 years of marriage with next month.
#23
I decided to walk to work one day. On my way home I ran into my ex, who I never got over. We wound up getting back together and now we're happily married.
#24
Got drunk and thought "f**k it why not" and slept with my co-worker a few months into my new job. 4 months later I was pregnant.
Baby is now 15, we've been together ever since, got married, and are happily weird together.
#25
Was at uni filling out the formal paperwork to study abroad for semester. My advisor urged me to go for a full year rather than only the fall semester. Despite the fact that I had agreed with my parents to only go for the fall semester (because they were having to fund it), I ticked the "full academic year box." I met my wife in the second semester (ie. after I would have already been back in the States had I not checked changed plans on a whim at the last second).
#26
I decided to skip high school one day and instead went to a company I was interning at.
A pretty prominent person visited that day and I introduced myself and started chatting about some of our common interests. That conversation led to a relationship that lasted years and after graduating from college I moved and became business partners with that person in a startup. All those little things, the people I met along the way, the projects I've been honored to have participated in, etc... All came out of me skipping school one day.
Binky Melnik 6 months ago
I was a tiny bit concerned about the “prominent person” hooking up with a high school kid, but am hoping the age difference wasn’t too great. It seems to have worked out in the end, but I was expecting a scarier outcome and so am quite relieved!
#27
Stop drinking. I would of never done the cool things I’ve done the last 15 years had I kept doing it.
#28
We had a party at our flat, and real late my flatmates decided to go to town. I said nah I'm staying home. They were like come come! Ans I was set against it. But then just last minute I was like f**k it! And went and chucked on my best party dress and off we went. Later that night, early in the morning to be exact, I met a guy in a kebab shop getting kebabs. I thought he was very handsome so I went ans hit on him. We've been together 10 years now and have 1 perfect kid.
#29
Tbh deciding to join this random online art group just for fun… ended up meeting my best friends there, and even got my first freelance job through it never thought something so small would matter that much.
#30
I randomly decided to help someone move one weekend. Met my future partner there. Changed everything.
What do you think ?
Michael Largey 6 months ago
I was invited to give the keynote speech at my union's collective bargaining conference. After the speech the state vice president introduced herself and asked me to give another at an upcoming event. Fifteen months later we married. It will be 38 years in July.
ElfVibratorGlitter 6 months ago
The only one I really have is that I used to chew nicotine gum for like ten + years. Never had any desire to stop. I had surgery end of March and had to stop nicotine because of that. My partner and I had been trying to conceive for 6 months. Quit Nicotine and we've got a baby on the way!
Apatheist Account2 6 months ago
My girlfriend and I had a misunderstanding, long story short, she texted me "Shall I come back to talk or not?" I said yes...we've been together 25 years now, married for the last 8.
Michael Largey 6 months ago
I was invited to give the keynote speech at my union's collective bargaining conference. After the speech the state vice president introduced herself and asked me to give another at an upcoming event. Fifteen months later we married. It will be 38 years in July.
ElfVibratorGlitter 6 months ago
The only one I really have is that I used to chew nicotine gum for like ten + years. Never had any desire to stop. I had surgery end of March and had to stop nicotine because of that. My partner and I had been trying to conceive for 6 months. Quit Nicotine and we've got a baby on the way!
Apatheist Account2 6 months ago
My girlfriend and I had a misunderstanding, long story short, she texted me "Shall I come back to talk or not?" I said yes...we've been together 25 years now, married for the last 8.
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