sensitive dependence
Small changes, big consequences
Sensitive dependence describes systems where tiny differences in starting conditions lead to vastly different outcomes—the "butterfly effect" in chaos theory.
A butterfly's wingbeat might eventually influence a distant hurricane.
The concept explains why long-term weather prediction is fundamentally limited: The system shows sensitive dependence on initial conditions.
- chaosComplete disorder and confusion
- chaos theoryStudy of sensitive dependence
- butterflyWinged insect from caterpillar
- butterfly effectSmall inputs, disproportionate results
- initial conditionsState at time zero
unpredictable · nonlinear · turbulence · bifurcation · strange attractor · attractor · weather · cascade · domino effect · amplification · ripple · perturbation · feedback · instability · dynamical · tipping point · razor's edge · exponential
- dynamical systemsattractors, attractor, chaos theory, equilibria, fixed points
sensitive dependencepredictability
Capacity to be anticipated
stability · structural stability · equilibrium · steady state · laminar flow
sensitive dependenceproportional response
Reaction matching the offense
proportionality · gradual change · robustness · reversibility · determinism
sensitive, dependence, sense, sensible, sensibility, sensor, sensory, sensation, sensational