wide paths filtering into narrow paths

[Maybo]

“Overcrowding, unmanaged crowds and wide paths filtering into narrow paths are a recipe for disaster,” crowd behaviour expert at the University of Greenwich, Prof Edwin Galea explains.
(Crowd crushes: how disasters like Itaewon happen, how can they be prevented, and the ‘stampede’ myth by Samantha Lock)

​

Does “filtering into” mean “become”?
Wide paths become narrow paths?

 

[Tarheel]

Yes, it's wide paths that become narrow paths.

(The word "overcrowding" means the same thing "crowding" does.)

 

[emsr2d2]

“Overcrowding, unmanaged crowds and wide paths filtering into narrow paths are a recipe for disaster,” crowd behaviour expert at the University of Greenwich, Prof Edwin Galea explains.
(Crowd crushes: how disasters like Itaewon happen, how can they be prevented, and the ‘stampede’ myth by Samantha Lock)

Does “filtering into” mean “become”? Does it mean that wide paths become narrow paths?

It's not that wide paths become narrow. It's that wide paths hold a lot of people and then, when those wide roads meet a narrow road, all the people on the road have to get from the larger space to a smaller space. With the word "filter", imagine a funnel.

(The word "overcrowding" means the same thing "crowding" does.)

I disagree. Somewhere can be crowded without being overcrowded. The latter suggests that the crowd is larger than is safe or controllable.

 

[Tdol]

The map I saw showed narrow roads to the sides of the wider road.

 

[Tarheel]

The dictionary definition of "overcrowding" is "crowding". If you want to say that there are so many people in a certain area that it creates unsafe conditions then say that. A crowd becomes dangerous when it becomes a mob. Or it becomes dangerous when some people panic and cause a stampede.

There is no objective way to define "overcrowding ". So instead of using that word simply say what you mean.

 

[5jj]

The dictionary definition of "overcrowding" is "crowding".

One dictionary's perhaps. Another is this.

There is no objective way to define "overcrowding ".

Perhaps not, but most of us have a pretty good idea of what the word means.

 

[Tarheel]

Yes, "overcrowding" is more crowding than is acceptable. That's not an objective definition, is if?

Using shorthand rather than saying what you mean doesn't always work.

For some reason people seem to think that if they disagree with me that will get me to change my mind. That never happens. (If I disagree with you will it get you to change your mind?)

 

[jutfrank]

The prefix over- carries the sense of there being too many people.

 

[Tarheel]

@jutfrank Thanks for the tip.

 

[Tdol]

Yes, "overcrowding" is more crowding than is acceptable. That's not an objective definition, is if?

The article that inspired this discussion uses people per square metre to assess the danger- anything over five seems to be a high risk:

Crowd crushes: how disasters like Itaewon happen, how can they be prevented, and the ‘stampede’ myth

Crowd crushes are wholly preventable, predictable and avoidable, experts say. Here is what we can learn from the Halloween crowd crush in Seoul

www.theguardian.com