Between work and the highly frustrating argument now going on over at Electrolite, I'm too burnt this morning to finish that mythical post I referred to a couple of days ago. (Or to get up to speed on this comment thread. I'll be over in a minute, really.)

In the mean time, though, here's another, smaller-scale model of traffic congestion — but this one isn't about economics, it's about waves. Or crystals. Or artificial life. Or ice-nine.

So, next time you are commuting and you approach a stoppage, don't think of it as a stupid f@#$% traffic jam. Think of it as a pressure wave which has approached your car and engulfed it. Think of it as a simple living thing which is composed of cars rather than molecules. Stay hopeful that the Crystalline Amoeba poops your car out soon. Take an aerial viewpoint, and visualize the wave which is moving backwards as you move forwards.