{
  "id": "butterfly-effect.amplification",
  "term": "butterfly effect",
  "sense": "amplification",
  "pos": "noun",
  "status": "review",
  "level": 14,
  "domain": "complex systems",
  "style": "folk",
  "definition": "A cause that is small in scale crosses a wall because the model did not include how parameters couple over distance, and so a drift that was negligible at its source becomes large at a far point.",
  "folk_gloss": "A small action can lead to big consequences.",
  "emergence": {
    "components": [
      "cause.reason",
      "drift.aimless",
      "parameter.condition",
      "wall.range-end",
      "model.representation",
      "far.distance",
      "coupling.connection"
    ],
    "interaction": "A small cause has a large effect.",
    "novel_properties": [
      "sensitive dependence on initial conditions"
    ]
  },
  "examples": [],
  "relations": [],
  "used_by": [],
  "forms": [
    "butterfly effect"
  ],
  "closed": false,
  "provenance": {
    "author": "phrases:qwen/qwen3-235b-a22b-2507",
    "date": "2026-07-29",
    "confidence": 0.7,
    "sources": [
      "folk phrase — small cause, large effect"
    ]
  },
  "canonical": "https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-butterfly-effect.amplification"
}