Implicit order describes the state of a system when certain information or characteristics are present but not apparent through direct inspection.
Implicit order may be demonstrated using laminar flow. The gap between two concentric glass cylinders is filled with glycerin, and a drop of ink placed therein. When the outer cylinder is turned, the drop is drawn out into a thread that eventually becomes so thin that it is not visible. At this point the ink molecules are said to be "enfolded" in the glycerin. The hidden characteristic is the presence of the ink in thin spiral layers. If the cylinder is turned in the opposite direction, the thread reforms into a drop—changing the state of the system in order to reveal the hidden information.
Famous quotes containing the words implicit and/or order:
“The vanity of men, a constant insult to women, is also the ground for the implicit feminine claim of superior sensitivity and morality.”
—Patricia Meyer Spacks (b. 1929)
“We must know, if only in order to learn not to know. The supreme lesson of human consciousness is to learn how not to know. That is, how not to interfere.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)