Re: [Paddlewise] Rogue Waves

Rich Kulawiec wrote:

>> Wikipedia has a good summary of what is know of these, and describes
>> the likely sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogue_wave  I suspect
>> the "non linear" hypothesis is the culprit. [I wrote this.]

To which Rich responded:

> It certainly seems to fit the observed facts quite well.  And nonlinear 
> stochastic phenomena are often described with terms like "rogue" or 
> "freak" that give some sense of their unexpected nature and the 
> (apparently) sudden way they make their presence known.  I think these 
> anthropomorphic labels are used because most of the physical phenomena 
> we deal with in our lives are approximately linear, and those that 
> deviate sharply from this are surprising and frightening to us.

I think you really nailed the psychology, Rich.  Some of the buzz here on 
PW has taken to task these labels and has ignored the solid observations of 
their existence.

Such is often the way of "linear" thinkers when confronted with nonlinear 
phenomena.  It might be worth noting that the paradigm shift which began to 
occur in many scientific communities beginning some 20-plus years ago on 
recognition that nonlinear phenomena were all around us is perhaps THE 
major all-encompassing scientific discovery of our generation.  Yes, it is 
that big.  Anybody who has not taken the time to digest the elements and 
the implications of the concept is engaging in buggy-whip analysis of the 
new world.  And, that is putting it mildly.

It's not too late.  James Gleick's classic introduction to "chaos theory," 
entitled CHAOS:  The Making of a New Science (Viking; 1987) is a good place 
to start.  It is written for a general audience, but will challenge almost 
every alert reader.

-- 
Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR
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