The Millennium Bridge of London was completed in 2000, hence its name. However, the bridge is better known for a lesson it provided in synchronization. Opening day for the pedestrian-only suspension bridge saw thousands of visitors crossing at once. Unexpectedly, the bridge began to sway back and forth, or oscillate sideways.
Videos of the event are surreal because you can see thousands of pedestrians walking in step as they cross the bridge – rocking left and right in unison to keep their balance. The reason for this synchronization is that each individual pedestrian, when he walks, contributes a little force that causes a slight oscillation. Because each pedestrian’s steps are random at the beginning, more pedestrians will inevitably step in one direction than another at various times. When this happens it causes the bridge to sway slightly in the direction of greater force.
A few more people will recognize, perhaps subconsciously, that the bridge is rocking and they themselves will rock back and forth to keep their balance. It so happens that the same motion that keeps an individual balanced also powers the oscillations, increasing their amplitude. This process accelerates until all individuals are synchronized, therefore maximizing amplitude.
In the case of the Millennium Bridge, oscillations were so forceful that pedestrians might have fallen down had they not walked in step.
Individual Rationale
The most crucial point to learn from the example is this: The decision that is in the best interest of each individual opposes the good of the aggregate; and that, in turn, harms each individual.
This is exactly the situation we have in healthcare at present. Physicians, insurers, employers, hospitals, and patients all want changes. They are swaying back and forth in a shaky system, perpetuating its inadequacies just to keep their balance. Yet they are powerless to change the system as individuals or even as entire interest groups.
A Coordinated Response
If the pedestrians on the bridge had formulated a system of two groups – each walking in sync and opposing the other group’s side to side steps – oscillations could have been reduced. This would never have really worked, though, because Londoners enjoyed shaking the bridge! (And that is perhaps another lesson in itself.)
Instead, the builders installed dampers to absorb shock. And they succeeded at eliminating all noticeable oscillations.
Alexander Typaldos