Theists: Observe Me Changing My Position in Light of New Evidence
I Thought the Unpredictability of the Weather Negated Determinism
Given that the Butterfly Effect applies to the weather, can it be said that the weather is deterministic?
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The Butterfly Effect is a concept from chaos theory that illustrates how small changes in the initial conditions of a dynamical system can lead to vastly different outcomes. This idea was popularized by meteorologist Edward Lorenz, who discovered it during his work on weather prediction models. The term itself comes from the metaphorical example that the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil could set off a tornado in Texas, highlighting the sensitivity of weather systems to initial conditions.
Weather systems are indeed deterministic in the sense that they follow the laws of physics. The equations governing weather and climate are based on fluid dynamics, thermodynamics, and other physical principles. In theory, if one had complete and perfect knowledge of all the initial conditions of the atmosphere and could perfectly model the complex interactions within it, it would be possible to predict the weather with 100% accuracy.
However, in practice, the weather is considered to be a chaotic system. This means that…
