Logic refers to the science of reason: tracing proofs and validating likely outcomes to assert rational principles. Logic organizes trajectories of thinking and being into customs cast from normative expectations and rhythms. As a social construct and scaffold through which knowledge is built and affirmed, logic upholds a series of unspoken norms which fail to account for the many social and relational ways individuals come to think and act.

Through the lens of neurodiversity, it becomes clear that variation in neurocognitive functioning are constantly branching in divergent directions.11“Neurodiversity: Some Basic Terms & Definitions,” Nick Walker, https://neuroqueer.com/neurodiversity-terms-and-definitions/. As each of us carries experiences that differ from the other, we hold distinct intimacies and vantages informing how we think and interact with the world. Where one person’s sensibilities may comfortably engage in a problem rather frictionlessly, another person may find it difficult to grasp. These conditions of difference are central to the project of establishing counter-narratives to normative logic systems. This is evidenced in neurodiverse artists’ and activists’ ongoing work to expand our sense of other ways of inhabiting the world.

In Inari Sandell’s video, On Butterfly Logic, which lends video-stills and textual excerpts to the current campus lightbox exhibition, logic is interrogated through the notion of “butterfly logic”—a term given contemptuously to ways of thinking that are piecemeal, wandering, or otherwise nonlinear. “Butterfly logic” refers to the ostensibly scattered movements of butterflies in flight. In the video, butterflies whirl in concentric loops in a greenhouse while Sandell’s voiceover remarks: “from watching them fly in unison, I think they [butterflies] must make sense of each other.”

Butterflies’ ambulatory nature serves to evade environmental and social threats from their surrounds. As butterflies flutter, they assume complex geometries: the pitch of their wings throws their torso into a tumbling, rocking motion. This rhythm of push-and-pull bears similarities to stimming—right down to the shared-language of “flapping.” During migration, butterflies fly in formation to pool their strength. As they (seemingly) unpredictably bobble through the air, their bodies tactfully attune themselves to their flight partners, ensuring that the bodies-in-motion avoid collision. Much like the dense, avian plumes that make up murmurations—collectives of starlings in flight, brought together to simulate the movement of one, united body in an effort to ward off birds of prey—these communities of butterflies come together to find empowerment through unity. These butterfly groups are lovingly termed “kaleidoscopes.”22Though the origin of this terming evades public memory, the usage of this endearing name remains broadly used throughout communities of butterfly conservationists, enthusiasts, and watchers. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/kaleidoscope.

“Kaleidoscope” recalls the familiar, telescope-like toys, and the shifting lattice patterns they create, which resemble butterflies’ patterned wings. The latter are recognized as a generative algorithm following a fractal logic—a recursive framework that wanders according to randomly suggested derivations in scale and direction.33The webbed patterns found in familiar butterflies in the Northern Hemisphere—such as the Monarch and Viceroy—iterate according to these patterns. Not only do we see derivation within each species, but we garner similarities across species which has been acknowledged as a shared defensive trait between each population. A.A. Castrejón-Pita, A. Sarmiento-Galán, J. Castrejón-Pita, et al. “Fractal Dimension in Butterflies’ Wings: a novel approach to understanding wing patterns?.” Journal of Mathematical Biology 50, (2005), 591 - 593. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00285-004-0302-6. This same model is reflected in growth and change found throughout the natural world, informing the lay of coastlines, the growth of root and branch systems in trees, and crystalline formations of precious gemstones.

Although butterflies’ patterns don’t at first appear to abide by a clear logic, their intricately latticed wings combined with their unique movements serve to ward off predators; a dazzle-camo; a faux-face in the brush; a vibrant flare to divert or confuse potential threats. Where might we find resonance between these protective measures and those of neurodivergent folks? Stimming, similarly, operates as a measured support bringing comfort to individuals through a choreography that is familiar, reliable and satisfying—though, normative strictures suppress these modes of expression and movement, diminishing stims as illogical actions/reactions. Together, we must take seriously Sandell’s core intentions of On Butterfly Logic: how would our adoption of difference in sensing and sense-making forecast a more intelligent, sensitive, and socially attuned world? And, by extension, where do we alight to join this flow of thought?