Ruminating Out Loud

In the spirit of continuing the process of correlating concepts in physics/science with that of day-to-day human behaviors, here we will discuss why some ideas go viral and others do not. The formulation presented here concerns with the idea of quantum tunneling. When a wave-like entity at a quantum scale encounters a potential barrier of a higher energy than its own,  it undergoes one of the following: (1) reflection, which occurs when the entity is not able to penetrate through the barrier, (2) tunneling, which is the processes of partially-passing through the barrier, or (3) combination of both. In all cases, the ability of the wave to surpass the potential barrier is dependent on its energy level and the width of the barrier. The mathematical description of this dependence is given by: Θ ~ Exp[- √Eb³ .  Xb], where Θ is the tunneling probability, Eb is the barrier height, and Xb is the barrier width. Hence, the larger the barrier height and width, the more difficult it is for the wave to penetrate through. In the event that tunneling occurs, the amplitude of the wave is diminished as it passes through the barrier.

Barrier Penetration

Now, with that rudimentary introduction to quantum tunneling, let us proceed to the postulation of what the reason behind the ease with which viral ideas spread is. Below is the graph representing the different regions of interest.

Why viral ideas spread quickly

The three distinct regions consist of the genesis, refinement, and viral-spreading of an idea/information. The vertical axis represents the potential of the idea/information to have any type of impact, which is its ability to inspire, depress, delight, annoy, revolutionize, disgust, or any other strong reaction that can make people itch until they share is with someone else. For an idea to break out of the genesis phase and go viral, it needs to overcome what I call the refinement barrier. This barrier, much like the potential barrier in the case of quantum tunneling, allows a given idea to pass through only if the width of the barrier is thin enough and the idea has the necessary potential to overcome it. In the cases where the potential is not sufficiently high, the idea/information will have to tunnel through the barrier and undergo a process of refinement. That is, the lower the potential of the idea, the more time it requires to refine. The higher the potential, the easier it is to propagate it through without much refinement. The nature of potential for impact of ideas gives a characteristic triangular-shaped barrier. Consequently, some ideas have such low potential that they are reflected right back by the refinement potential as the length of time required is simply too much to allow for the process to work. Hence, the primary factors determining the ability of an idea/information to go viral are its potential of impact and the time-length of refinement it requires. In the cases where the idea does undergo refinement, much like the wave that has a diminished amplitude, the refinement process condenses and filters the idea to make it more strong-reaction-inducing.

One wonders about the role marketing and publicity have in the spreading of an idea/information. The aforementioned analogy would dictate that there is an intrinsic potential an idea/information has to have a strong impact. No amount of advertising will change that. What the publicity will do is lower the refinement barrier height. In so doing, the probability of an idea going viral is dramatically increased. The other effect advertising can have is contracting the width of the refinement potential, which has the effect of reducing the time required for an idea to undergo the refinement process. This is accomplished by merely making more resources, e.g. number of people participating in the process, available to partake in the process. The unfortunate reality of this formulation is that if an idea/information does not have the necessary potential for impact to tunnel through the refinement barrier mostly by itself, that is, if it requires the help of major advertising push, its long-term acceptability and utility will most likely be minimal and will not last in the viral-land for a long time.