People accept butterfly-effect logic in fiction but ignore it in their own lives

Evidence

In virtually every movie about time travel, someone warns the protagonist not to influence the lives or choices of those in the past too much. The repercussions could be so far-reaching as to completely remake the present. One little choice could radiate outward in unimaginable ways, altering the very fabric of reality in the present day. When watching Back to the Future or Avengers: Endgame, we naturally accept this idea. However, we rarely apply the same logic to our own lives. We fail to see how a seemingly insignificant decision we make today could dramatically alter the future. — Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry, 118

Categorization

• SEED: The time-travel butterfly effect as a frame for a piece about small acts of countercultural resistance — could pair with Addendum material on how small practices propagate.
• XREF: connects to: Third-person fiction enables thinking no individual experiences in everyday life — Anna Kornbluh, Immediacy, or The Style of Too Late…, 337; Fiction’s absorption of memoir and self-branding erases fictionality — Anna Kornbluh, Immediacy, or The Style of Too Late…, 161

Broader Connections

• Third-person fiction enables thinking no individual experiences in everyday life #expands (0.74) — Anna Kornbluh, Immediacy, or The Style of Too Late…, 337
• Fiction’s absorption of memoir and self-branding erases fictionality #qualifies (0.72) — Anna Kornbluh, Immediacy, or The Style of Too Late…, 161