The linked article claims that metronomes start 'pairing up' with their nearest neighbors saying that "strongest forces on a metronome will initially be from it

The linked article claims that metronomes start 'pairing up' with their nearest neighbors saying that "strongest forces on a metronome will initially be from its nearest neighbors." But if the forces are spread by the string-suspended table swaying back and forth, I wouldn't expect adjacent metronomes to be significantly more connected than further away ones. Instead, I wonder if we just happen to be better at noticing metronome synchronicity when the metronomes are adjacent. Any pairs that formed several steps away would escape our notice.