Oct 21

Wave, people wave!

physics, Randoms, Thoughts Add comments

For a couple of months, I have been thinking of social epidemics as a social form of mechanical waves (Well, a natural consequence when a physicist is reading Connected by Nicolas Christiakis and James Fowler). Now, I’m not sure if it’s an original thought or something I understood while I was reading the book. However, to understand the analogy you have to understand mechanical waves or at least what factors contribute to them.

A mechanical wave is a wave that needs a medium to go through (like ocean waves and sound). The particles in said medium do not move much from their original equilibrium point but energy does flow through the material. We know that the denser the medium the faster the wave can go through, also, the faster the amplitude decreases. The amplitude, in turn, depends on the initial energy that started the wave. For now, I’ll only consider these three characteristics.

Now back to social epidemics, the medium will be social structure of said community, the wave will be a new trend (or any idea) and the initial energy will be the social connections and influence of the trend setter (let’s call it impact point). If the community was denser, meaning the social connections between its members was varied and everyone knew everyone, a social wave will move faster but also will lose traction fast on many wavefronts. To elaborate, an idea will move from the impact point to the adjacent points quickly because the connections are varied and tightly knit. On the other hand, due to large influx of impact points and new ideas people will forget about the older ideas and trends faster. The initial energy put into a new trend will highly determine how far the idea will go. If a well known person (be it a politician, a celebrity or just a vocal local grocer) drops a huge statement, you know what happens next.

Now that’s just over simplifying any society. I haven’t factor in resonances, rigidity (or elasticity), frequency … etc. So, for now, I will leave you to think (and comment) about this idea while I try to complicate the idea in my head .. Thank you for reading.

PS. I thank Lou for reminding me that I need to blog again..

PPS. To read the follow up post, please click here

  • Sulaiman

    Haha! That’s a very interesting metaphor. And you can very well relate some social functions to it too. I would use the metaphor to determine ways of ending some social trends or ‘waves’ since our cultures and societies have plenty of destructive practices that are harming us from the inside out…nnThought provoking post.

    • http://www.geekinpractice.com amrush

      Hmmmm .. good idea to include Damping into the equation..u00a0nn@iBaubaid mentioned the existence of a mathematical equation that models the propagation of social epidemics in a society .. I wanna find it and see if both equations have similar terms :)

  • Reem Taibah

    Very Nice Omair! I like this social wave, true indeed regardless of missing factor. I think this would be super interesting if we can sum up all factors and make the equation. The medium is the important factor but i think it’s the variable one (people’s behavior) … Hmm we’ll see more on that. nBut truly Good job cuz ;) n

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  • Mlz Mbayoumi

    As I posted before .. it’s a great smart way to view the way you see and imagine things .. I loved it .. good luck =)

  • Safana Sejini

    That’s interesting to see how a physicist look at things. I agree that ideas are big waves die as soon as they reach the shore and soon another idea will take its place and that will be forgottennAny idea on how to make a wave last longer?

    • http://www.geekinpractice.com amrush

      resonance, constructive interference, less damping, make it a standing wave .. many ways ..u00a0nnMore and more to the analogy!nnthanks foru00a0droppingu00a0by