Web Hosting Talk : Other Forums : Web Hosting Lounge : Domino Theory

[DynastyHost]

In Business:

Does anyone know who invented the "DOMINO" Theory? and When?

Please help me if you know.

Thanks :-)

[kunal]

What was/is the theory??

[Duster]

It's far too old to put a name to. Dominoes go back many hundreds of years to China. The idea that one action can have a sequence of resulting reactions is an old idea as well.

You might possibly find someone credited with using the term "domino theory" but it could hardly be considered an original idea.

[Annette]

I don't know if this is what you're thinking of, but in the mid-50's, when the anti-communism feeling was strongest, Eisenhower used the term "domino theory" to describe the thought that if one country in the Pacific fell to communism, that it would spread to neighboring countries and that they would fall as well (hence the domino image). There was the thought (at the time) that Australia and New Zealand might fall prey to this perceived threat, as they would be dominoes in a chain that could have started in communist China.

These days, it's been applied to other areas of the world, including Central America, Africa, etc.

In business, there is the thought that one country's currency valuations (or, more specifically, devaluations) can have a domino effecton the valuation of other nations' currency as well. In this age of global economies, that's not too hard to fathom. However, this is not really a "theory" per se, but a commentary on the interconnected economics of countries.

In reality, you could apply "domino theory" to just about anything. But it's unlikely that you'd find a specific reference to it, or find out who coined the phrase, in most instances - excepting the historical one mentioned first, as that one's pretty well documented, having been used here during the red-baiting activities of McCarthy et al in the 50's, and as justification for deploying troops in Vietnam.


[Edited by Annette on 10-29-2000 at 10:41 AM]

[alchiba]

I had a beautifully crafted, eloquent reply to this question. . . and then I realized we weren't talking about pizza. Darn it!

[kunal]

Duster, Annette Thanx a ton!

Alchiba, go ahead and post it!!

[etLux]

http://www.encyclopedia.com/articles/03749.html

[Annette]

Dang, I could have just posted that link instead of dredging my brains to remember it. Shame on me.

[etLux]

Obviously, I have all these memorized.

And I didn't realize you could say "dang" in here...

By the way, here's another truly useful one:

http://howstuffworks.com/question46.htm

[BC]

You could say dang, damn, bummer, bloody hell, etc. Just keep it clean or the censoring feature on vB will kick in anyway. And the mods will always have the soap on hand to wash out any particularly unsavoury mouths