4 ms·

For whatever reason I've found this "Human Crush" phenomena simultaneously interesting & terrifying ever since I first heard about it some years ago in regards

For whatever reason I've found this "Human Crush" phenomena simultaneously interesting & terrifying ever since I first heard about it some years ago in regards to the Hillsborough disaster. People in a dense enough group cease to function as individual units... but instead as a large fluid mass incapable of immediate course correction. It's stuck with me, and made me more wary and alert when in crowded scenarios to this day. I suppose there's a thought to be had that as urban centers become more populous and common we'll have to figure out better ways of preventing and policing stuff like this. (And like the tragic stuff happening at Astroworld last night.) Be safe folks.

musicale 5y ago
Crowd management and continuous crowd monitoring is essential at any potentially high-density event. Some cities have banned festival seating since it leads to potentially deadly crowd densities near the stage. This matches my own experience right before a popular act comes on and the crowd density immediately doubles or triples as people cram into all available space at the front. A domino effect or pileup of just a few people can create 1000 pounds of force, making it impossible for someone to breathe. Now imagine shockwaves/quakes/pileups in a crowd of thousands of people. Rigid metal or concrete barriers/fences that crush people rather than giving way, along with security staff who refuse to allow distressed attendees to leave, make things even more dangerous.
pdkl95 5y ago
> Hillsborough disaster The "We'll There's Your Problem" podcast had a interesting episode[1] about the Hillsborough disaster. > a large fluid mass Apparently mosh pits are an ideal gas. From [2]: >> ... we examined the 2D speed distribution; previous observations of human pedestrian traffic and escape panic led us to expect a broad distribution not well described by simple analytic expressions. However, the measured speed distribution in mosh pits wads well fit by the equilibrium speed distribution of classical 2D gassed, otherwise known as the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2BjTfwhbh8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2BjTfwhbh8 [2] https://arxiv.org/abs/1302.1886# https://arxiv.org/abs/1302.1886#

musicale 5y ago

Crowd management and continuous crowd monitoring is essential at any potentially high-density event. Some cities have banned festival seating since it leads to potentially deadly crowd densities near the stage. This matches my own experience right before a popular act comes on and the crowd density immediately doubles or triples as people cram into all available space at the front. A domino effect or pileup of just a few people can create 1000 pounds of force, making it impossible for someone to breathe. Now imagine shockwaves/quakes/pileups in a crowd of thousands of people. Rigid metal or concrete barriers/fences that crush people rather than giving way, along with security staff who refuse to allow distressed attendees to leave, make things even more dangerous.

pdkl95 5y ago

> Hillsborough disaster The "We'll There's Your Problem" podcast had a interesting episode[1] about the Hillsborough disaster. > a large fluid mass Apparently mosh pits are an ideal gas. From [2]: >> ... we examined the 2D speed distribution; previous observations of human pedestrian traffic and escape panic led us to expect a broad distribution not well described by simple analytic expressions. However, the measured speed distribution in mosh pits wads well fit by the equilibrium speed distribution of classical 2D gassed, otherwise known as the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2BjTfwhbh8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2BjTfwhbh8 [2] https://arxiv.org/abs/1302.1886# https://arxiv.org/abs/1302.1886#