Unanswered Question of the Day: Bureaucratic Inertia
3. This is a question about language. I'm interested in finding a word, term, or phrase--which could be from any field of study, industry, or foreign language--that best describes a phenomenon. There are many examples to define it:
- when you turn off a fan, it continues to spin until it naturally slows to a stop.
- when you are awake, you tend to stay awake. when you're asleep, you tend to stay asleep.
- once you start eating or drinking, you tend to want to continue eating or drinking.
- at the battle of Normandy, allied soldiers continued to fire after the enemy had surrendered.
- John Bonham routinely destroyed his hotel room after Led Zeppelin concerts.
Also, in exercise, the process of slowing down from a sprint to a run, to a jog, then to a walk, as opposed to just stopping altogether. Or, the time it takes your eyes to adjust when someone turns on the lights after a movie.
- when you turn off a fan, it continues to spin until it naturally slows to a stop.
- when you are awake, you tend to stay awake. when you're asleep, you tend to stay asleep.
- once you start eating or drinking, you tend to want to continue eating or drinking.
- at the battle of Normandy, allied soldiers continued to fire after the enemy had surrendered.
- John Bonham routinely destroyed his hotel room after Led Zeppelin concerts.
Also, in exercise, the process of slowing down from a sprint to a run, to a jog, then to a walk, as opposed to just stopping altogether. Or, the time it takes your eyes to adjust when someone turns on the lights after a movie.