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THE WISDOM AND/OR MADNESS OF CROWDS
by Nicky Case | apr 2018
MY "WHY" FOR MAKING THIS:
+ to build a foundation for further curiosity about networks, group dynamics
+ to practice teaching with problem-solving, a pre-req for skills
+ to instill transcendent sense of "fundamentally people", of Humanity's Brain <3
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<title>The Wisdom and/or Madness of Crowds</title>
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<!-- The chapters -->
<div chapter="Introduction">
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<span>1</span>
<span>1. Introduction</span>
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</div>
<div chapter="Networks">
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<span>2</span>
<span>2. Connections</span>
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</div>
<div chapter="Simple">
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<span>3</span>
<span>3. Contagions</span>
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</div>
<div chapter="Complex">
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<span>4</span>
<span>4. Complex Contagions</span>
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</div>
<div chapter="BB">
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<span>5</span>
<span>5. Bonding &amp; Bridging</span>
</div>
<div chapter="SmallWorld">
<span>6</span>
<span>6. It's A Small World</span>
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</div>
<div chapter="Sandbox">
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<span>7</span>
<span>7. Sandbox Mode</span>
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</div>
<div chapter="Conclusion">
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<span>8</span>
<span>8. In Conclusion...</span>
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</div>
<div chapter="Credits">
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<span>9</span>
<span>9. Credits</span>
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</div>
<!-- A divider -->
<span class="nav_divider"></span>
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<span>?</span>
<span>Bonus Boxes! (Notes)</span>
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<div modal="references">
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<span style="margin-top: 7px; font-size: 35px;">*</span>
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<span>References</span>
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<span style="margin-top:5px; position:relative;"><span style="
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<span>the</span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 60px;letter-spacing: 4px;">WISDOM</span>
<span style="position:relative;top: -10px;">and/or</span>
<span style="font-size: 60px;">MADNESS</span>
<br>
<span style="position: relative;top: -11px;">of</span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 100px;line-height: 80px;position: relative;top: -15px;">CROWDS</span>
</div>
<div style="color:#999">
playing time: 30 min • by nicky case, april 2018
</div>
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</words>
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<next></next>
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loading...
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<words id="preloader_play">
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let's play! &rarr;
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</words>
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<!-- Introduction -->
<words id="intro">
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<div class="circle"><span>
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<br><br>
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Sir Isaac Newton was pretty sure he was a smart cookie.
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I mean, after inventing calculus and a theory of gravity,
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he should be clever enough to do some financial investing, right?
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Anyway,
long story short, he lost $4,600,000 (in today's dollars)
in the nationwide speculation frenzy known as the South Sea Bubble of 1720.
<br><br>
As Mr. Newton later said:
<i>“I can calculate the motion of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people.”</i>
<next>yeah sucks for him &rarr;</next>
</span></div>
</words>
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<words id="intro_2">
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<div class="circle" style="line-height:1.4em"><span>
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<br>
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Of course, that's not the only time markets, institutions, or entire democracies went haywire &mdash;
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the <i>madness</i> of crowds.
And yet, just when you lose hope in humanity,
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you see citizens coordinating to rescue each other in hurricanes,
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communities creating solutions to problems,
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people fighting for a better world &mdash;
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the <i>wisdom</i> of crowds!
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<div style="height:0.9em"></div>
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<b>But <i>why</i> do some crowds turn to madness, or wisdom?</b>
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No theory can explain everything,
but I think a new field of study, <b>network science</b>,
can guide us! And its core idea is this:
to understand crowds, we should look not at the <i>individual people</i>, but at...
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<next>...their <i>connections.</i> &rarr;</next>
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</span></div>
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</words>
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<!-- Networks -->
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<words id="networks_tutorial_start">
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<b>Let's draw a network!</b>
Each connection represents a friendship between two people:
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</words>
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<words id="networks_tutorial_connect">
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draw to connect
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</words>
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<words id="networks_tutorial_disconnect">
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scratch to&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;disconnect
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</words>
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<words id="networks_tutorial_end">
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when you're done doodling and playing around,
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<next wiggle>let's continue &rarr;</next>
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</words>
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<words id="networks_threshold">
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But social connections do more than just make pretty pictures.
People <i>look to</i> their social connections to understand their social world.
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In this example, people look to their peers to
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find out <b>what % of their friends</b> (not counting themselves) are,
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say, binge-drinkers. <icon yellow></icon>
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</words>
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<words id="networks_threshold_instruction">
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<b>Draw/erase connections, and see what happens! &rarr;</b>
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</words>
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<words id="networks_threshold_end">
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<next>cool, got it</next>
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</words>
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<words id="networks_pre_puzzle">
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However, networks can <i>fool</i> people.
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Just like how the earth seems flat because we're on it,
people may get wrong ideas about society because they're <i>in</i> it.
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<bon id="connections"></bon>
<br>
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For example, a 1991 study<ref id="drunk"></ref> showed that
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“virtually all [college] students reported that their friends drank more than they did.”
But that seems impossible!
How can that be?
Well, you're about to invent the answer yourself, by drawing a network.
It's time to...
<next>FOOL EVERYONE &rarr;</next>
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</words>
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<words id="optional_reading">
<div style="position:absolute; top:-5px;">
<i>optional</i> extra bonus notes &uarr;
</div>
<div style="position:absolute; left:216px; top:10px;">
&darr; links and references
</div>
</words>
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<words id="networks_puzzle">
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<b style="font-size:2em">PUZZLE TIME!</b>
<br>
Fool <i>everyone</i> into thinking
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the majority of their friends (50% threshold) are binge-drinkers <icon yellow></icon>
(even though binge-drinkers are outnumbered 2-to-1!)
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</words>
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<words id="networks_puzzle_metric">
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<b>FOOLED:</b>
</words>
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<words id="networks_puzzle_metric_2">
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out of 9 people
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</words>
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<words id="networks_puzzle_end">
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Congrats! You manipulated a group of students into believing
in the prevalance of an incredibly unhealthy social norm! Good going!
<next wiggle>...uh. thanks?</next>
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</words>
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<words id="networks_post_puzzle">
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What you just created is called The Majority Illusion<ref id="majority"></ref>,
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which also explains why people think their political views are consensus,
or why extremism seems more common than it actually is.
<i>Madness.</i>
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<bon id="books"></bon>
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But people don't just passively <i>observe</i> others' ideas and behaviors,
they actively <i>copy</i> them.
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So now, let's look at something network scientists call...
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<next>“Contagions!” &rarr;</next>
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</words>
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<!-- Simple Contagions -->
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<words id="simple_simple">
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<i>Let's put aside the "threshold" thing for now.</i>
Below: we have a person <icon red></icon> with some information.
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Some <i>mis</i>information. "Fake news", as the cool kids say.
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And every day, that person spreads the rumor, like a virus, to their friends.
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And they spread it to <i>their</i> friends. And so on.
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<br>
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<b>
Start the simulation! &darr;
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(p.s: you can't draw <i>while</i> the sim's running)
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</b>
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</words>
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<words id="simple_simple_2">
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Note: despite the negative name, "contagions" can be good or bad (or neutral or ambiguous).
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There's strong statistical evidence<ref id="contagion"></ref> that
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smoking, health, happiness, voting patterns, and cooperation levels
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are all "contagious" --
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and even some evidence that suicides<ref id="suicides"></ref> and mass shootings<ref id="shootings"></ref> are, too.
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</words>
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<words id="simple_simple_end">
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<next wiggle>well that's depressing &rarr;</next>
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</words>
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<words id="simple_cascade">
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Indeed it is.
Anyway, <b>PUZZLE TIME!</b>
<br>
Draw a network &amp; run the simulation,
so that <i>everyone</i> gets infected with the "contagion".
(new rule: you can't cut the <i>thick</i> connections)
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</words>
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<words id="simple_cascade_end">
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<next wiggle>fan-flipping-tastic &rarr;</next>
</words>
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<words id="simple_post_cascade">
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This madness-spreading is called an <b>"information cascade"</b>.
Mr. Newton fell for such a cascade in 1720.
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The world's financial institutions fell for such a cascade in 2008.<ref id="subprime"></ref>
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<br><br>
However: <i>this simulation is wrong.</i>
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Most ideas <i>don't</i> spread like viruses.
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For many beliefs and behaviors, you need to be "exposed" to the contagion more than just once
in order to be "infected".
So, network scientists have come up with a new, better way to
describe how ideas/behaviors spread, and they call it...
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<next wiggle><i>Complex</i> Contagions!” &rarr;</next>
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</words>
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<!-- Complex Contagions -->
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<words id="complex_complex">
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Let's bring back "thresholds", and the binge-drinking <icon yellow></icon> example!
When you played with this the first time, people didn't change their behavior.
<br><br>
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Now, let's simulate what happens if people <i>do</i> start drinking
<i>when 50%+ of their friends do!</i>
<b>Before you start the sim, ask yourself what you think <i>should</i> happen.
Now, run the sim, and see what actually happens! &rarr;</b>
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</words>
<words id="complex_complex_2">
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<span style="line-height:1.3em">
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Unlike our earlier "fake news" <icon red></icon> contagion,
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this contagion <icon yellow></icon> does <i>not</i> spread to everyone!
The first few people get "infected", because although they're only exposed to one
binge-drinker, that binge-drinker is 50% of their friends. (yeah, they're lonely)
In contrast, the person near the end of the chain did <i>not</i> get "infected",
because while they were exposed to a binge-drinking friend,
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they did not pass the 50%+ threshold.
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<div style="height:0.75em"></div>
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The <i>relative</i> % of "infected" friends matters.
<i>That's</i> the difference between the <b>complex contagion</b> theory,
and our naive it-spreads-like-a-virus <b>simple contagion</b> theory.
(you could say "simple contagions" are just contagions with a "more than 0%" infection threshold)
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<div style="height:0.75em"></div>
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However, contagions aren't necessarily bad &mdash;
so enough about crowd <i>madness</i>, what about...
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<next>...crowd <i>wisdom?</i></next>
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</span>
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</words>
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<words id="complex_complex_3">
Here, we have a person <icon blue></icon> who volunteers to... I don't know,
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rescue people in hurricanes, or tutor underprivileged kids in their local community, or something cool like that.
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Point is, it's a "good" complex contagion.
This time, though, let's say the threshold is only 25% &mdash;
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people are willing to volunteer, but only if 25% or more of their friends do so, too.
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Hey, goodwill needs a bit of social encouragement.
<br><br>
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<b>&larr; Get everyone "infected" with the good vibes!</b>
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</words>
<words id="complex_complex_3_end">
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<b>NOTE:</b> Volunteering is just <i>one</i> of many complex contagions!
Others include: voter turnout, lifestyle habits,
career choices, challenging your beliefs,
taking time to understand a issue deeply &mdash; basically, anything
that needs more than one "exposure", and some social encouragement.
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<br><br>
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(So what's an example of a <i>simple</i> contagion, that only needs one exposure to "infect" someone?
Usually: bits of trivia, like, "the possum has 13 nipples")
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<br><br>
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Now, to <i>really</i> show the power and weirdness of complex contagions, let's revisit...
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<next>...an earlier puzzle &rarr;</next>
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</words>
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<words id="complex_cascade">
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Remember this? This time, with a <i>complex</i> contagion <icon blue></icon>, it'll be a bit tougher...
<br>
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<b>Try to "infect" everyone with complex wisdom! &darr;</b>
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</words>
<words id="complex_cascade_feel_free">
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(feel free to just hit 'start' and <i>try</i> as many solutions as you want)
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</words>
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<words id="complex_cascade_end">
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<next wiggle>HOT DANG &rarr;</next>
</words>
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<words id="complex_post_cascade">
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Now, you may be thinking that you just need to keep adding connections to spread any contagion,
"complex" or "simple", good or bad, wise or mad.
But is that really so? Well, let's revisit...
2018-04-12 21:22:22 +00:00
</words>
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<words id="complex_post_cascade_end">
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<next wiggle>...another earlier puzzle &rarr;</next>
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</words>
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<words id="complex_prevent">
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Now, let's do the <i>opposite</i> of everything we've done before.
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If you hit "start" below now, the complex contagion <icon blue></icon> will just spread to everyone.
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No surprise there.
But now, here's your challenge:
<b>draw a network to <i>prevent</i> the contagion from spreading to everyone! &darr;</b>
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</words>
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<words id="complex_prevent_2">
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You see?
While more connections will always help the spread of <i>simple</i> ideas,
<b>more connections can hurt the spread of <i>complex</i> ideas!</b>
(makes you wonder about the internet, hm?)
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And this isn't just a theoretical problem. This can be a matter of life...
</words>
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<words id="complex_prevent_end">
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<next wiggle>...or death. &rarr;</next>
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</words>
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<words id="complex_groupthink">
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2018-04-13 17:42:02 +00:00
The people at NASA were smart cookies.
I mean, they'd used Newton's theories to get us to the moon.
Anyway, long story short, in 1986,
<i>despite warnings from the engineers</i>,
they launched the <i>Challenger</i>,
which blew up and killed 7 people.
The immediate cause:
it was too cold that morning.
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<div style="height:0.9em"></div>
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The less immediate cause: the managers ignored the engineers' warnings.
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Why? Because of <b>groupthink</b><ref id="groupthink"></ref>.
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When a group is <i>too</i> closely knit, (as they tend to be at the top of institutions)
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they become resistant to complex ideas that challenge their beliefs, or ego.
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<div style="height:0.9em"></div>
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So, that's how institutions can fall to crowd madness.
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But how can we "design" for crowd <i>wisdom?</i>
In short, two words:
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<next>Bonding &amp; Bridging &rarr;</next>
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</words>
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<!-- Bonding & Bridging -->
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<words id="bonding_1">
&larr; Too few connections, and an idea can't spread.
<br>
Too many connections, and you get groupthink. &rarr;
</words>
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<words id="bonding_2">
<b>
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Draw a group that hits the sweet spot:
just connected enough to spread a complex idea!
&darr;
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</b>
</words>
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<words id="bonding_end">
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The connections <i>within</i> a group is called <b>bonding social capital</b><ref id="social_capital"></ref>.
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But what about the connections...
<next wiggle>...<i>between</i> groups?</next>
</words>
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2018-04-13 20:58:04 +00:00
<words id="bridging_1">
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As you may have already guessed,
the connections <i>between</i> groups is called
<b>bridging social capital</b>.
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This is important, because it helps groups break out of their insular echo chambers!
<br>
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<b>Try to "infect" everyone with complex wisdom:</b>
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</words>
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<words id="bridging_end">
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Like bonding, there's a sweet spot for bridging, too.<ref id="bridge"></ref>
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(extra challenge: try drawing a bridge so thick that the complex contagion
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<i>can't</i> pass through it!)
Now that we know how to "design" connections <i>within</i> and <i>between</i> groups, let's...
<next wiggle>...do BOTH. &rarr;</next>
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</words>
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<words id="bb_1">
<b style="font-size:2em">FINAL PUZZLE!</b>
<br>
Draw connections within groups (bonding) and between groups (bridging)
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to spread wisdom to the whole crowd:
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2018-04-01 16:34:52 +00:00
</words>
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<words id="bb_2">
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You just drew a very special kind of network!
Networks with high bonding and bridging
are profoundly important, and they're called...
<next wiggle>“Small World Networks” &rarr;</next>
</words>
<words id="bb_small_world_1">
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<i>"Unity without uniformity". "Diversity without division". "E Pluribus Unum: out of many, one".</i>
<br>
No matter how it's phrased,
people -- across times and cultures -- have often arrived at the same piece of wisdom:
<b>
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a healthy society needs a sweet spot of bonds <i>within</i> groups
and bridges <i>between</i> groups.
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</b>
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That is:
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</words>
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<words id="bb_small_world_2">
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Not this...
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<br>
(because ideas can't spread)
</words>
<words id="bb_small_world_3">
nor this...
<br>
(because you'll get groupthink)
</words>
<words id="bb_small_world_4">
...but <i>THIS:</i>
</words>
<words id="bb_small_world_5">
Network scientists now have a mathematical definition for this ancient wisdom:
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the <b>small world network</b><ref id="small_world"></ref>.
This optimal mix of bonding+bridging describes how
our neurons are connected<ref id="swn_neurons"></ref>,
fosters collective creativity<ref id="swn_creativity"></ref>
2018-04-16 19:14:08 +00:00
and problem-solving<ref id="swn_social_physics"></ref>,
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and even once helped US President John F Kennedy (barely) avoid nuclear war!<ref id="swn_jfk"></ref>
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So, yeah, small worlds are a big deal.
</words>
<words id="bb_small_world_end">
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<next>ok, let's wrap this up... &rarr;</next>
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</words>
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<!-- Sandbox -->
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<words id="sandbox_caption">
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<b>NOTE: "Sandbox Mode" is totally optional!</b>
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Feel free to skip it, or play around.<ref id="sandbox"></ref>
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Whenever you're done, let's recap...
2018-04-13 20:58:04 +00:00
</words>
<words id="sandbox_next">
<next>what we learnt today!</next>
</words>
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<words id="sandbox_contagion">
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Contagion:
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</words>
<words id="sandbox_contagion_simple">
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simple
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</words>
<words id="sandbox_contagion_complex">
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complex
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</words>
<words id="sandbox_color_chooser">
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The Contagion's Color:
2018-04-06 16:06:55 +00:00
</words>
<words id="sandbox_tool_chooser">
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Select a tool...
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</words>
<words id="sandbox_tool_pencil">
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Draw Network
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</words>
<words id="sandbox_tool_add">
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Add Person
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</words>
<words id="sandbox_tool_add_infected">
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Add "Infected"
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</words>
<words id="sandbox_tool_move">
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Drag Person
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</words>
<words id="sandbox_tool_delete">
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Delete Person
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</words>
<words id="sandbox_tool_clear">
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<b>CLEAR IT ALL</b>
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</words>
<words id="sandbox_shortcuts_label">
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(...or, use keyboard shortcuts!)
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</words>
2018-04-13 20:58:04 +00:00
2018-04-06 16:06:55 +00:00
<words id="sandbox_shortcuts">
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[1]: Add Person &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; [2]: Add "Infected"
<br>
[Space]: Drag &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; [Backspace]: Delete
</words>
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<!-- Conclusion -->
2018-04-13 20:58:04 +00:00
<words id="conclusion_1">
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<div style="font-size: 30px;">
IN CONCLUSION: it's all about...
</div>
<div style="
width: 100%;
position: absolute;
font-size: 88px;
top: 20px;
line-height: 100px;
">
Contagions &amp; Connections
</div>
<div style="
width: 710px;
position: absolute;
top: 125px;
left: 250px;
">
<b>Contagions:</b>
Like how neurons pass signals in a brain,
people pass beliefs &amp; behaviors in a society.
Not only do we influence our friends,
2018-04-16 19:14:08 +00:00
we also influence our friends' friends, and even our friends' friends' friends!<ref id="three_degrees"></ref>
2018-04-15 21:24:22 +00:00
(“be the change you wanna see in the world” etc etc)
But, like neurons, it's not just signals that matter, it's also...
</div>
<div style="
width: 710px;
position: absolute;
top: 275px;
left: 250px;
">
<b>Connections:</b>
Too few connections and complex ideas can't spread.
Too <i>many</i> connections and complex ideas get crushed by groupthink.
The trick is to build a small world network, the optimal mix of
bonding and bridging: <i>e pluribus unum.</i>
2018-04-18 20:28:41 +00:00
<bon id="math"></bon>
2018-04-15 21:24:22 +00:00
</div>
<div style="
width: 400px;
position: absolute;
top: 395px;
right: 0px;
text-align: right;
">
so, what about our question from the very beginning?
why <i>do</i> some crowds turn to...
</div>
<div style="
width: 300px;
position: absolute;
top: 460px;
right: 0px;
">
<next>...wisdom and/or madness?</next>
</div>
2018-04-13 20:58:04 +00:00
</words>
<words id="conclusion_2">
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<div class="circle" style="font-size:22px; line-height:1.3em;"><span>
<br>
From Newton to NASA to network science, we've covered a lot here today.
Long story short, the madness of crowds is not necessarily due to the
<i>individual people</i>, but how we're trapped in a network's sticky web.
<br><br>
That <i>does NOT</i> mean abandoning personal responsibility,
for we're also the <i>weavers</i> of that web.
So, improve your contagions:
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be skeptical of ideas that flatter you<ref id="flatter"></ref>,
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spend time understanding complex ideas.
And, improve your connections: bond with similar folk,
but also build bridges across cultural/political divides.
<br><br>
We can weave a wise web.
Sure, it's harder than drawing lines on a screen...
<next>...but so, so worth it.</next>
2018-04-13 20:58:04 +00:00
</span></div>
</words>
<words id="conclusion_3">
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<i>
“The great triumphs and tragedies of history are caused,
not by people being fundamentally good or fundamentally bad,
but by people being fundamentally people.”
</i>
<br>
<span style="position:relative; top:5px">~</span> Neil Gaiman &amp; Terry Pratchett
<next small>&lt;3</next>
2018-04-13 20:58:04 +00:00
</words>
2018-04-16 15:44:14 +00:00
<!-- Credits -->
2018-04-13 20:58:04 +00:00
2018-04-16 15:44:14 +00:00
<words id="credits">
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CREDITS
<br>
CREDITS
<br>
CREDITS
<br>
CREDITS
<br>
CREDITS
2018-04-16 19:14:08 +00:00
<br>
<bon id="further_reading"></bon>
2018-04-13 20:58:04 +00:00
</words>
<!-- x. misc -->
<words id="WIN">
WIN
</words>
<words id="sim_start">
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start simulation
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</words>
2018-04-18 15:25:41 +00:00
<words id="sim_stop">
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reset &amp; re-draw
2018-04-06 16:06:55 +00:00
</words>
2018-04-01 16:34:52 +00:00
2018-03-27 17:39:08 +00:00
<!-- - - - - - - - - - - - - -->
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<!-- BONUS BOXES (footnotes) -->
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<!-- - - - - - - - - - - - - -->
2018-04-16 19:14:08 +00:00
<bonus id="connections">
<h3>
BONUS BOX: How Else Can We Be Connected?
</h3>
<div>
(blah blah blah, one-directional, weighted connections, etc)
</div>
</bonus>
<bonus id="books">
<h3>
BONUS BOX: A quick response to James Surowiecki's <i>The Wisdom of Crowds</i>
</h3>
<div>
(blah blah blah)
</div>
</bonus>
2018-04-18 20:28:41 +00:00
<bonus id="math">
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<h3>
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BONUS BOX: Wait, Where Was The Math?
2018-04-16 19:14:08 +00:00
</h3>
<div>
(blah blah blah: map, extending the model with ecologies or randomness, etc)
</div>
</bonus>
<bonus id="further_reading">
<h3>
Further Reading
</h3>
<div>
</div>
2018-03-26 15:52:43 +00:00
</bonus>
2018-04-04 15:57:35 +00:00
<!-- - - - - - - -->
<!-- REFERENCES -->
<!-- - - - - - - -->
2018-03-27 17:39:08 +00:00
2018-04-16 19:14:08 +00:00
<reference>
</reference>
<reference id="drunk">
<h3>
“a 1991 study showed that virtually all [college] students reported that their friends drank more than they did.”
</h3>
<div>
[link]
</div>
</reference>
<reference id="majority">
<h3>
“The Majority Illusion”
</h3>
<div>
[link]
[also, interactive NYT version]
</div>
</reference>
<reference id="contagion">
<h3>
“strong statistical evidence that
2018-04-18 14:51:44 +00:00
smoking, health, happiness, voting patterns, and cooperation levels
2018-04-16 19:14:08 +00:00
are all contagious”
</h3>
<div>
[Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler, again]
</div>
</reference>
<reference id="suicides">
<h3>
“some evidence that suicides are [contagious], too”
</h3>
<div>
[link]
</div>
</reference>
<reference id="shootings">
<h3>
“some evidence that mass shootings are [contagious], too”
</h3>
<div>
[link - also Don't Say Their Names]
</div>
</reference>
<reference id="subprime">
<h3>
“The world's financial institutions fell for such a cascade in 2008.”
</h3>
<div>
[link to Cass Sunstein's Lemmings of Wall Street right after the prices plunged - not technical]
<!-- https://newrepublic.com/article/63023/wall-streets-lemmings -->
</div>
</reference>
<reference id="complex">
<h3>
“Complex contagions are weirder.”
</h3>
<div>
[link to empirical proof of twitter complex contagion]
[also, Granovetter's Threshold model]
[and Dodds &amp; Watt's Universal Contagion]
[not to mention contrarians]
</div>
</reference>
<reference id="groupthink">
<h3>
“groupthink”
</h3>
<div>
[link to Janis's Groupthink article]
</div>
</reference>
<reference id="social_capital">
<h3>
“bonding and bridging social capital”
</h3>
<div>
[link to Robert Putnam's Bowling Alone]
</div>
</reference>
<reference id="bridge">
<h3>
“bridging social capital has a sweet spot”
</h3>
<div>
[link to Granovetter's Strength of Weak Ties]
[and response for complex contagion, the Weakness of Long Ties!]
</div>
</reference>
<reference id="small_world">
<h3>
“the small world network”
</h3>
<div>
[link to Strogatz and Watts]
[also the Bret Victor version]
</div>
</reference>
<reference id="swn_neurons">
<h3>
“[small world networks] describe how our neurons interact”
</h3>
<div>
[link plz]
</div>
</reference>
<reference id="swn_creativity">
<h3>
“[small world networks] give rise to collective creativity”
</h3>
<div>
[link to that Broadway and small world study. note PARABOLIC relationship]
</div>
</reference>
<reference id="swn_social_physics">
<h3>
“[small world networks] give rise to collective problem-solving”
</h3>
<div>
[link to Social Physics book]
</div>
</reference>
<reference id="swn_jfk">
<h3>
“[small world networks] helped us (barely) avoid nuclear war!”
</h3>
<div>
[JFK and the Cuban Missile Crisis, his small-world team undid his earlier screw-up
with the Bay of Pigs,
</div>
</reference>
<reference id="sandbox">
<h3>
“Sandbox Mode”
</h3>
<div>
pst... wanna hear a secret? those keyboard shortcuts (1,2,space,delete)
can edit not just the simulation in sandbox mode, but <i>all</i> the simulations
in this explorable explanation! seriously, you can go back to a different chapter,
and edit the simulation right there.
in fact, that's how <i>I</i> created all these puzzles!
</div>
</reference>
<reference id="three_degrees">
<h3>
“we influence [...] our friends' friends' friends!”
</h3>
<div>
[link to Connected by Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler]
</div>
</reference>
<reference id="flatter">
<h3>
“be skeptical of ideas that flatter you”
</h3>
<div>
yes, including all the ideas in <i>this</i> explorable explanation.
</div>
</reference>
2018-03-26 15:52:43 +00:00
2018-04-18 14:51:44 +00:00
</span>
2018-04-01 16:34:52 +00:00
<!-- - - - - -->
<!-- SCRIPTS -->
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