Chaos

      One of the most important theories of mathematics developed in modern times is chaos theory. Chaos theory is important from an anthropic point of view for two main reasons: firstly it means our actions are hugely influential and secondly it means our choices are essentially meaningless. To understand these two seemingly contradicting statements lets look at the basics of chaos theory. Like, really just the basics, I've got less than four minutes to go here.
      So chaos theory states that in a complex system small differences in initial conditions can make large differences. Take the classic example of a butterfly flapping its wings, altering weather conditions and causing a hurricane half way across the world. The same is true for every human action, including basically anything you're doing right now. Your actions right now will completely determine the state of the world ten years from now. So you're basically a god. Kudos.
      Of course the flip side of all this is that your direct actions have a tendency to get lost in the chaotic noise of your actions. This raises philosophical issues about the nature of morality and whether it is even relevant. I could discuss the philosophy of this until the cows come home (by the way, what's up with that saying? Most cows are basically always home, surely?), but what it really boils down to is your choices do have instant and direct impacts, so just don't be a knob and you won't go far wrong.
      So, that's a crash course in chaos theory and ethics, all in three paragraphs. Not bad.