Did you think, at all, before you wrote that? What do you think "equilibrium" means?
In dynamics, an equilibrium point is a steady-state of the system: that is, a set of values for the system such that, if the system is set to that point, the system will no longer change.
What do you think "stable" means?
In this context, "stable" means that, if you move the system slightly away from the equilibrium point, it will naturally move back to the equilibrium point. On the other hand, an unstable system, when perturbed from the equilibrium point, will not return to that point.
So, for example, the point of an inverted cone is an unstable equilibrium point. I can balance a ball on it, and it won't go anywhere; but move it ever-so-slightly, and it will fall down. On the other hand, the bottom of a conical pit is stable; move the ball anywhere up from the bottom, and it will just fall back down again.
These are basic definitions for this sort of mathematics. It probably wouldn't hurt, under the circumstances, to assume the author knows what's he talking about, you know.
I'm wondering just how much exactly they spent on this study just to find out that comic books are in fact based on real society? I think the only reason this would even be important to the slashdot community is to see how foolishly Universities spend their money. I could have told them that comic books contain artificial societies for only $100 probably saving them thousands...
Well, the point of the research is: When you set up an artifical universe, with artifical character relationships, what networking properties emerge, and how, exactly, do they compare to the networking properties of the real society on which the artificial construct was based?
The researchers probably don't give a flying fig about the Marvel Universe itself. It just happens to be a rich model (designed by someone else) which they're trying to use to figure out causes and principles of population interaction.
Slashdot Mirror
Did you think, at all, before you wrote that? What do you think "equilibrium" means?
In dynamics, an equilibrium point is a steady-state of the system: that is, a set of values for the system such that, if the system is set to that point, the system will no longer change.
What do you think "stable" means?
In this context, "stable" means that, if you move the system slightly away from the equilibrium point, it will naturally move back to the equilibrium point. On the other hand, an unstable system, when perturbed from the equilibrium point, will not return to that point.
So, for example, the point of an inverted cone is an unstable equilibrium point. I can balance a ball on it, and it won't go anywhere; but move it ever-so-slightly, and it will fall down. On the other hand, the bottom of a conical pit is stable; move the ball anywhere up from the bottom, and it will just fall back down again.
These are basic definitions for this sort of mathematics. It probably wouldn't hurt, under the circumstances, to assume the author knows what's he talking about, you know.
Well, the point of the research is: When you set up an artifical universe, with artifical character relationships, what networking properties emerge, and how, exactly, do they compare to the networking properties of the real society on which the artificial construct was based?
The researchers probably don't give a flying fig about the Marvel Universe itself. It just happens to be a rich model (designed by someone else) which they're trying to use to figure out causes and principles of population interaction.
Bjorn Christianson