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from the every-man-before-he-die-should-strive-to-learn-what-he-is-running-to-and-from-and-why dept.
Many media outlets referred to what happened as a "mass panic" or a "stampede." But such terms are not appropriate to the situation, according to John Drury, a social psychologist at the University of Sussex.
"People follow others when they perceive these others as relevant, so it is not mindless," Drury says. "The problems come when the others don't take the danger seriously enough. People more often die in emergencies through not evacuating quickly rather than through haste."
Stampeding is a primitive, instinctive behavior of herd animals, and panic implies a rashness or irrationality in response to a real or perceived danger, Drury writes on his academic blog. But crowds shouldn't be compared to unintentional, mindless mobs. Instead Drury refers to these events as progressive crowd collapses.
Shared identity in the crowd (eg. "Cubs fans"), exit design, crowd traffic control, and sight lines are all factors in stampedes. The researchers are modeling different mitigation strategies like precise position monitoring via GPS event bracelets.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday November 09 2016, @09:08AM
I wonder if the Clintons have any political capital left after this? Normally, ex-presidents retain a little bit of influence. Supposedly even Carter has a faction. This is such a mess for the Democrats that I wouldn't be surprised if that's it for the Clintons.
Well, the good news for the Democrats is that they don't have anyone else like Clinton who would suck the oxygen out of the room and keep viable candidates from running. So when the 2020 nomination comes around, it'll be wide open.
Another thing to look for in the coming years. Do either party try to modify their primaries or nomination process to prevent the sort of rebellion that happened with Sanders and Trump? The Democrats already have "front-loading" (here, that the nominee tends to get out in front early on) and superdelegates.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday November 09 2016, @10:14AM
That's a really good question, but I think if the DNC and RNC try to amend their rules to lock out insurgents like Trump, they will only be signing their own death warrants. For me, the overriding message from Trump's victory is that they should not expect to continue to achieve victory for the elites at the expense of regular people. Somehow, tonight, against all odds, the American people evaded the total blockade of the Establishment and the media. That's huge. I truly hope that the backlash against the rigging that the DNC and RNC and media did wipes them from the public scene in America. They deserve the death that comes from irrelevance, which is born of their contempt for the real lives of real Americans.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 10 2016, @09:23AM
For me, the overriding message from Trump's victory is that they should not expect to continue to achieve victory for the elites at the expense of regular people. Somehow, tonight, against all odds, the American people evaded the total blockade of the Establishment and the media.
You poor, poor naive folks! Trump is from the ranks of elite as much as Clinton is. You have just witnessed a rearrangement in pecking order at the top, nothing more. Bernie Sanders perhaps was your only exit, but that hazard was stomped out, timely and vigorously.