The Butterfly Effect

Chris Rosati (center), the man who believes in the butterfly effect.

In physics, there is this term called the BUTTERFLY EFFECT, in which a small change in a present effect can lead to much larger changes in a later state. If applied to something like the world, it can mean that a small act in one part of the world can lead to large changes in other parts of the world. So, in theory a small act of kindness somewhere in this part of the world can have a major effect on a part of the world an ocean away.

That's the thinking of one man, Chris Rosati. Now, Chris isn't just your average young man; he's living with an illness, AMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS (ALS) which is slowly taking away the functions of his body. He can barely speak clearly, but he has a mission in mind.



One day, not long ago, he was dining out at Elmo's Diner in Durham, NC, and he decided to test the butterfly theory by giving two girls $50 each, but with the stipulation that they do something kind. What he didn't realize was how both girls, Cate Cameron, age 13, and her sister Anna, age 10, would spread that kindness. As Anna said, "That makes you want to do something good with that money."

Both girls didn't have that far to look to figure out what they wanted to do. Their father had volunteered with the Peace Corps at a village in Sierra Leone and both knew that the people in that country had been fighting the spread of the ebola virus. So, their idea was to send money to the villagers for a feast to celebrate being ebola-free.

Now, Chris had actually forgotten his original request when he received an email with a photo from Cate and Anna, which included a photo of the villagers holding up signs thanking Chris for his kind act. It was the butterfly effect in action - Chris' act of kindness had spread across the ocean and into Africa. That started Chris thinking bigger - how could more acts of kindness be generated?

Chris was already involved by founding something called INSPIRE MEDIA NETWORK, which does what it says, it inspires people to tell their stories about acts of kindness they performed. And he's issued a challenge that any kid who'd like to do something good for the world can receive a mini-grant, sort of a butterfly grant, of $50. The next thing you know, there's likely to be a whole lot of good happening in this world of ours.

The picture of the Sierra Leone villagers that Chris received in his email.

Thanks to this article from Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/16/chris-rosati-als_n_6880546.html; and this article from CBS Evening News: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/proving-the-butterfly-effect-with-a-single-act-of-kindness/.

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