Observation: Party Re-unification Seems To Be Taking Place A Bit More Easily Than Expected....

[BlooInBloo]

Both in real life between the campaigns and supporters, and also here on DU.

(1) This is a very good thing. Keep it up!

(2) Here's my conjecture as to explaining this. When you stretch a rubber band farther and farther, while for sure the distance between opposite ends increases, at the same time the force trying to *restore* the rubber band to its original position increases*. So when you let go, it snaps back quickly, precisely *because* it was stretched so far.

I'm thinking the distance that grew between Clinton/Obama during the primary might be of this nature as well - that the great distance between the camps was merely a *transient* state, as opposed to the *long-term equilibrium* where the camps (and their supporters) are actually quite close.

Its not a perfect analogy, of course - that's why it's called an "analogy". But it seems like it reflects what we're seeing reasonably well.


EDIT: *There's a mathy way to say this, but it's not especially relevant.

[slackmaster]

1. R

:grouphug:

[ElsewheresDaughter]

2. we've got work to do......mcbush hasn't got a miami snowballs chance

[Teaser]

3. F=-kx

.

[BlooInBloo]

4. I dream of the day where my post would be intelligible to all, if I had said that and nothing more.

[KittyWampus]

15. Force=Pressure(outside agent)?

Okay, my physics teacher was so fucking boring I never went to class and just crammed for the Regents at home and got a 96 on it to pass for the whole year.

But I'm up for guessing.

[BlooInBloo]

16. Good try, but not quite...

f = -kx

f: Force (or acceleration; same difference per Newton2)

k: some constant, depending in this case on the particular "spring" in question, and is typically called a "spring constant". Some springs are tighter than others, after all.

x: the distance from rest state the spring is stretched.

negative sign: indicating the the *direction* of the force/acceleration is the *opposite* of the direction the spring is stretched. Hence, the force is thought of as a *restoring* force.

[KittyWampus]

17. Thanks, what a way to start the morning. Looking like a idjit :-)

[BlooInBloo]

20. :) Googling "spring differential equation" is bound to turn up java applets....

if you're interested in a fuller story.

The only important thing is whether or not you know more than you did a few minutes ago. :)

[KittyWampus]

21. in my full defense, I smoked a lot of pot back in the day. So a few brain cells

must have fallen by the way side.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

You're spinning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEF3SwFdN6A&feature=related

[BlooInBloo]

7. Hey yall, prepare yourself.... for the - rubberband... MAN!!

Always loved that song.

[gristy]

5. The concern has always been the risk of plastic deformation. That is, that your rubber band analogy

would not be an accurate analogy.

"A material deformed beyond its the elastic limit undergoes plastic deformation. Unlike elastic deformation, plastic deformation is not recoverable, i.e. the change is permanent."

[BlooInBloo]

6. Sure - if that matched what I'm seeing, I would've gone that way with it.

[moriah]

8. I was just afraid that the rubber band would break.

After all, we've all seen what happens when rubbers break. Er, I mean, when rubber breaks. No, really...

[BlooInBloo]

9. Always a theoretical worry fer sher. I mostly intended the anaology...

to give a picture different from that given when people talk about "how will they *bridge* the great chasm that has sprung up between them".

That picture rests on a static view of things, and ignores both the *true* dynamic side, and also where the equilibrium lies.

[moriah]

12. (I was going for the joke mostly, although I *was* worried for us...)

I was a little afraid, though, to say "I was just afraid the rubber would break" and get a "That's what *she* said!".

Of course, it might have been funnier....

We need a few laughs around here as we gear up to make sure our nominee wins the White House.

[BlooInBloo]

14. Oops - sorry - it's early for me yet. I'm not up to my usual 15-year-old sense of humor standards...

Give me another hour and a cup of coffee, and I promise not to let you down! :)

[moriah]

18. It's late for me yet, so 15 year old humor is about all I can manage.

I think I had six cups of coffee last night. At least. Gotta love the graveyard shift.

One of our client's servers went down right about time for shift change at my company's home office (we're a bit behind them). Naturally I was on hold for a bit, and the poor under-caffeinated soul who got my phone call as soon as he signed in was very jealous of the amount of caffeine in my bloodstream. (Or the blood in my caffeine stream, as the case may be.)

He said I was way too chipper and it was totally unfair. It probably was. Especially since I wasn't able to say my usual "This'll be an easy one..." when I called. It wasn't.

[BlooInBloo]

22. Oh no! lol! I remember I broke our code tree once, and got a very unpleasant call...

... from my manager in the dead of the night. Not good.

[TexasObserver]

10. your rubber band analogy is a very good one

Grasshopper, when you can snatch this stone from my hand ... hey, where'd it go?!

[BlooInBloo]

11. hah! i LOVED that show!

[TexasObserver]

19. It was awesome! Poor Bruce Lee got robbed, though.

Loved David Carradine, however.

[Emit]

13. Oh, The Elastic Electorate Theory

I experience a similar phenomenon when I employ the 'You Get What You Get, So Don't Throw A Fit' method when resolving conflict between kids in my house. It's not always pretty, but more often than not, works like a charm ... once the tantrums reside, that is. I mean, what choice do they have?

:silly: Okay, it's early for me, more caffeine now, please