Consequential-Based Thinking
As time passes and technology advances, the human race will be closely knitted in a fast paced world. With trading borders are now gradually opening up, technology advancements (such as bigger and faster airplanes or the worldwide web) now cuts short the distance between two individuals from any corner of the globe. One cannot imagine how connected we are to one another.
A few decades ago, the average person dwells in his self-interest back in his own little backyard, without a damn given for the rest of the world. As the borders around his backyard are being torn down, every action one used to do can now impact the neighbors around him.
In a world that interconnects every single individual tightly, one can imagine how apt the terminology – Butterfly Effect – would be applicable to each and every one of us.
Butterfly Effect refers technically to the “sensitive dependence on initial conditions”. The conditions are our actions, and there are consequences closely and sensitively related and dependant to these actions.
Here’s a brief history of how the term came about. A weather meteorologist was keying in a set of parameters to rerun a weather prediction in 1961. During one of the test sequences, he has entered the decimal .506 instead of entering the actual full .506127. The consequence,
It is in the Butterfly Effect that we are all thrown into whether we are aware of it or want it.
- From an ecology sense, every piece paper wasted amounts to a tree, and then to a forest and jungle.
- From an economic sense, every cent spent creates a millionaire elsewhere in the world.
- From an educational view, every single minute spend learning will accumulate to a lifetime of knowledge.
- From a geographical standpoint, every creature slaughtered will ultimately add up to its extinction.
If your biological parents hasn’t given birth to you a few decades ago, you wouldn’t be around to buy this book or reading it, and this sale plays a part in my realization of my dreams. You might just find this book interesting enough to introduce and share with your friends around you, and they may just do the same. The consequences of you introducing this book to your friend or not will lead to more exposure or not. And for that, I have your parents to thank for. Now that may sound alittle far-fetched but in a sequence of consequences, it still holds true.
Every action or thought no matter how insignificant has its consequences that would be largely amplified elsewhere – good or bad. Every action will lead to a consequence, intended or not. And consequences will then lead to a chain of events that affects the bigger picture.
A slight variation of consequence-based thinking is results-based thinking. Results-based thinking refers to the ultimate goal consistently.
For example, I have a mission statement as “I wanna be a self-made millionaire” or “I want to achieve USD$10,000 in 6 months time”. The final goal in my statement refers to the ultimate result I desire. To achieve that desired result, I have many options that I could choose from. By consistently referring myself to the results, I may become too eager to achieve it and wind up disillusioned or desperate if I have failed to check myself every now and then.
Every course of action pursued has its inter-related consequences.
