Althouse: "Using a mixture of simulated moshers and standing fans, they could reproduce mosh pits, circle pits and..."

March 22, 2013

"Using a mixture of simulated moshers and standing fans, they could reproduce mosh pits, circle pits and..."

"... other common collective motions that take place at metal concerts. You can try some simulations for yourself in their mosh pit simulator below."

12 comments:

edutcher said...: At first, you think, "These guys went to Cornell for this?", and then you get to the bottom of the article and find it's actually got a purpose.

I'd think all that Brownian motion stuff would be useful here, but we are dealing with goofy kids and not molecules, which probably have better sense.; 3/22/13, 9:46 AM
Patrick said...: we are dealing with goofy kids and not molecules, which probably have better sense.

Ha!

I was thinking along those lines, that there are different reasons for jumping into one of those mosh pits, and those will affect how a kid acts when he's in there, and they don't seem to be accounted for in that model.; 3/22/13, 9:47 AM
Nonapod said...: As an attender of a lot of heavy metal shows (last week I saw a show by a Death Metal band called Nile)I have observed and been a part of enough pits to see how they get started. Usually you have a couple outliers, like errant particles in a solution that start moving about, increasing the entropy of the system, then a circle pit slowly forms.; 3/22/13, 9:50 AM
edutcher said...: Death Metal?; 3/22/13, 9:51 AM
Nonapod said...: Death Metal; 3/22/13, 9:56 AM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: I was once at a local show and this sloppy-fat, dorky looking guy climbed up on stage to do a stage dive into the mosh pit.

The moshers all parted in a single, smooth motion like a school of fish forming a donut.

Fatso went straight to the floor.

I would have been concerned for the poor guy's safety but I stood there, transfixed, lost in thought, pondering the mathematics of how so many intoxicated and distracted moshers could coordinate so rapidly and effectively.

I was probably stoned.; 3/22/13, 9:58 AM
lemondog said...: Lots of energy expended to no concrete end.

Every generation invents its own cultural phenomenon but is there a redeeming quality to moshing?

I say that they take moshing into the halls of congress where it will make sense to congresscritters.; 3/22/13, 10:13 AM
Known Unknown said...: Every generation invents its own cultural phenomenon but is there a redeeming quality to moshing?

I suppose it releases energies otherwise exhausted in less beneficial ways (fighting, etc.); 3/22/13, 10:45 AM
Icepick said...: I don't need a mosh pit simulation. I can take my almost-three year-old to story time at the library or the playground at our favorite parks and observe the real thing. Forget "Ring Around the Rosie", these kids should be taught "Caught in a Mosh".; 3/22/13, 11:57 AM
Icepick said...: I would have been concerned for the poor guy's safety but I stood there, transfixed, lost in thought, pondering the mathematics of how so many intoxicated and distracted moshers could coordinate so rapidly and effectively.

Fear is a powerful motivator!; 3/22/13, 11:58 AM
Icepick said...: Extreme stage diving!

E!C!DUB! E!C!DUB! E!C!DUB!; 3/22/13, 12:10 PM
AlanKH said...: Doesn't OSHA have mosh pit safety regulations?; 3/22/13, 12:19 PM