system
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human
ELI5: Chaos Theory

Hello,
Can someone please explain how chaos theory works, where it's applied outside of maths?  Time travel?

How does it link in with the butterfly effect?
gpt
Chaos theory is essentially just the idea that *very* small changes in the initial conditions can lead to large differences in outcome, especially in the long run.

The Butterfly Effect is just one example of chaos theory, in which it is supposed that the butterfly beating its wings at the right moment could be enough of a change in initial conditions to tip the balance in favour of a hurricane forming on the other side of the world.

What chaos theory *isn't* about is randomness.  Chaotic systems can be completely 100% deterministic, but the problem is our ability to know the exact starting conditions, and thus we can't make accurate predictions.