Thursday, September 26, 2013
Step functions 2
Following the previous entry on step functions.
Think again of the automotive road test analogy. Step function inputs: Stomp on the gas, get up to 60, count the seconds, note the shift points. Now stomp on the brakes and examine the response. Does the car stop at all? Does it skid and fishtail, or does it smoothly decelerate?
Now watch the world political system responding to the Persian step function. Rouhani's sudden downward step from "We are one bigass problem!" to "We want zero problems!" is a nice black-box test of national transfer functions.
As long as Ahmadinejad was creating the rhetoric of problems, Israel was able to engage in warlike bullying, and other countries were able to go along with Israel.
Now that Rouhani has stomped on the brakes, Israel continues roaring ahead full speed, but other countries (amazingly including America!) are smoothly decelerating. Israel stands out there on its own, unavoidably revealed as an unstoppable bully. Variables and constants.
Think of the step function as a cliff, and think of Wile E. Coyote still running, still grabbing and snatching at the air........
Labels: Turkey
¶ 5:49 AM
