During the previews before "Return of the King" there was a bit about a person who could go back in time and change the course of events, but each change seems to bring chaos beyond it's original attempt. The movie was called "The Butterfly Attempt."

I couldn't help thinking about the Bradbury short story where a group of hunters go back in time to kill a T-Rex where then one hunter steps off the "path" and kills a butterfly. When they return to the future, there are dramatic differences, even though it was "just one butterfly."

What was the name of that story and does anyone know if that's where this movie gets it's namesake?

Alright remembered, A Sound of Thunder. Any ties to the movie though?

AndrewC

If you hop over to forum titled:
"Inspired by Ray"
...scroll down a bit to topic, "The Butterfly Effect. Inspired by Ray?"
...you'll find some posts on this subject. It was originally posted begining of November, with the latest post 12/27/03.

The actual title of the movie is "The Butterfly Effect" as the topic of this post suggests. According to some of the posts in the section mentioned by Nard, the name comes from a phrase which was not coined by Bradbury, though it comes from the ideas and themes of the story "A Sound of Thunder" as mentioned above. This is about all I can say right now, but for more info, refer to those posts suggeseted by Nard.

thank you thank you thank you.... i thought this about the butterfly effect as well.. and struggled to find out the name of the story and movie cause i thought the same thing... iwill now refer to the other post

quote:

Originally posted by AndrewC:
During the previews before "Return of the King" there was a bit about a person who could go back in time and change the course of events, but each change seems to bring chaos beyond it's original attempt. The movie was called "The Butterfly Attempt."

I couldn't help thinking about the Bradbury short story where a group of hunters go back in time to kill a T-Rex where then one hunter steps off the "path" and kills a butterfly. When they return to the future, there are dramatic differences, even though it was "just one butterfly."

What was the name of that story and does anyone know if that's where this movie gets it's namesake?

It, if memory serves, the same name. "THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT". Ran in PLAYBOY in the 60's, I think. It was a better story than this was a movie. "Tiny changes in the past make huge changes in the future" was the point of the PLAYBOY BRADBURY story.

I heard in the credits, BRADBURY got some credit. I did not see it.

In the short story, a fellow stepped off the path and stepped on a butter fly. When they return, everthing was changed. I am mike_hickey43@hotmail.com if you want to continue this dialog.

I believe it was Conrad Lorenz who suggested, I believe in the 60s, that a butterfly flapping its wings in China could cause thunderstorms three days later in Kansas. The idea was that in systems as complex as the weather, little causes can multiply into great effects.

I alluded to this often in customer service training sessions. I was trying to convince my front-counter coworkers that a smile for a customer in the morning could easily prevent a dog from getting kicked in the evening! ;-) DZ

[This message has been edited by deanzat (edited 08-22-2004).]

Yes, but that would be working on the assumption that everything multiplies and keeps gaining momentum. What about the law of diminishing returns?

That law has nothing to do with the Butterfly effect. That law basically means that if you continue adding on something to a closed system, the marginal benefit will eventually diminish (ie, if we have a field, and it needs fertalizing, then 1 kg will do wonders, 2 kg will be great, but the difference between adding 2 kg or 3 kg will not be that great).

Cheers, Translator

The only "law" at work in the butterfly effect might be the law of unintended consequences. Of course, like the "law" of diminishing returns, it's not really a law.

On the other hand, 186,000 miles per second is not only a good idea, IT IS THE LAW!

;-) DZ

[This message has been edited by deanzat (edited 08-24-2004).]