Thanksgiving Is Ruined

The Personal is Political. The Political is Personal.

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February 26, 2011
 
physics (acoustics) vs. chemistry


The new Jean Daniel column about certain current events, here, leads us to a recent A. Badiou column, here. The latter includes the following quote:
"Revolutionary movements do not spread by contamination but by resonance. Something that is constituted here resonates with the shock wave emitted by something constituted over there."

AB attributes the quote to Jean-Marie Gleize. Rather (or originally), it seems to come from this work. (see .pdf here, pg. 6)


A couple weeks before Badiou's column appeared, Gaston Gordillo had noticed the same great quote, grabbed the theory ball and run as far as possible (or, someone may say, bearable) in one type of direction, in an admirable discussion of "resonance." See his blog entry posted here
[and almost entirely ignored here, in one of it's many cross-postings/reappearances].


Resonance vs. contamination. Contamination technically speaking is an idea taken from the field of chemistry, so this page tells us, and resonance from physics. Thus perhaps the ultimate rival, newly pronounced theory of explanation for certain current world events, duly rooted in principles of chemistry, can be found here. Yes, the chemical solvent in this case is Nescafe.