Bandwidth paradox (was: Lab Equipment Suggestions) (Christian Kaernbach )

Subject: Bandwidth paradox (was: Lab Equipment Suggestions)
From:    Christian Kaernbach  <chris(at)PSYCHOLOGIE.UNI-LEIPZIG.DE>
Date:    Thu, 4 Apr 1996 12:45:16 +0200

I just discovered a "list effect" which I would like to coin
                        THE BANDWIDTH PARADOX:

    If somebody feels that some mailing to the list is superfluous,
    his comment will produce some more mails on this topic
    which should appear even more superfluous to him.



Without Larry's comment we would have had only one mail by John N.,
but the way it happened we have read five mails (oh, I forgot this
one: six mails). As I happen to use the delete button very easily,
this is not a problem to me. It is just funny....

As we are on an auditory list, we should now start thinking whether
the bandwidth paradox has an analog in the auditory world.
In Germany, people say "Pssst" to indicate that someone else should
stop talking or producing noise. (What do they say in other
countries?). There are two ways how this could happen to produce a
pssst-paradox: In some situations, there are more people saying
"Pssst" than producing noise, and the "Pssst" get's louder than the
noise (try crunching potato chips in the opera). With ill-hearing
people, on the other hand, saying "Pssst" might provoke the (loudly
given) question: "What did you say? I did not understand..." and thus
produce more noise. Do you have more pssst-paradox suggestions :-?

- Christian