If You’re So Free, Why Do You Follow Others? The Sociological Science Behind Social Networks and Social Influence. Nicholas Christakis, Professor of Medical Sociology, Medicine, and Sociology at Harvard University If you think you’re in complete control of your destiny or even your own actions, you’re wrong. Every choice you make, every behavior you exhibit, and even every desire you have finds its roots in the social universe. Nicholas Christakis explains why individual actions are inextricably linked to sociological pressures; whether you’re absorbing altruism performed by someone you’ll never meet or deciding to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge, collective phenomena affect every aspect of your life. By the end of the lecture Christakis has revealed a startling new way to understand the world that ranks sociology as one of the most vitally important social sciences. The Floating University Originally released September 2011. Additional Lectures: Michio Kaku: The Universe in a Nutshell www.youtube.com Joel Cohen: An Introduction to Demography (Malthus Miffed: Are People the Problem?) www.youtube.com Steven Pinker: Linguistics as a Window to Understanding the Brain www.youtube.com Leon Botstein: Art Now (Aesthetics Across Music, Painting, Architecture, Movies, and More.) www.youtube.com Tamar Gendler: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Politics and Economics www.youtube.com
Posts Tagged ‘ efficiency ’
Nicholas Christakis: The Sociological Science Behind Social Networks and Social Influence
Networks’ resilience (Stories from a connected world)
In July 2001, a train derailed in a Maryland tunnel , causing a fire. The fire fused optical fibers in the tunnel and, after a short time, Internet traffic slowed down in part of the United States. It is uncommon that an accident reduces macroscopically the efficiency of the Internet. At any given time, thousands of routers are out of use. However, the network seems to tolerate smoothly this chronic malfunction. This extraordinary resilience appears in many other systems structured as networks. Social groups such as companies or institutions always suffer communication problems. However, they manage to carry on complicated tasks such as building an airplane or collecting taxes. Many species become extinct by natural selection. However, the biosphere continues working. Genetic mutations are ordinary events. But organisms show tremendous strength, even when there are mutations that lead to the disappearance of a large number of proteins. Several groups of researchers have performed computer simulations to see how many nodes of the Internet would have to be removed to stop it working. Surprisingly, even after removing 80% of them, the network remains connected. To understand this result, researchers have undertaken the same experiment with an artificial network, in which the superconnected nodes of the Internet are missing. In this case, the network fragments much faster. The presence of superconnectors is the key to the high resilience of many networks. Want to know more …