Homogeneity in information contagion
http://www.pnas.org/content/106/51/21544 In class, we have talked about how the information or behavior can diffuse through network structure, and how the network structure can enable or prevent contagions. However, Sinan Aral, Lev Muchnik, and Arun Sundararajan in their paper demonstrate that, in addition to network structure, the homophily of the nodes also play an important […]
The Importance of Early Support in the Arab Spring
In What Really Made the Arab Uprisings Contagious, Merouan Mekouar contends that “for localized acts of protest to take a national dimension, respected political personalities or groups need to be on board during the early acts of protest against the government.” Mekouar bases his claims on the idea of information cascades. He argues that when early legitimate […]
Amazon HQ2: A Double-Edged Sword?
Articles: https://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazon/take-it-from-us-with-amazon-you-can-get-too-much-of-a-good-thing/ https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-new-headquarters-reaction-problems-2017-9 Amazon has been talked about a lot in the news the past few years, and one thing that people have been watching, is its search for the perfect city for its second headquarters. The idea of adding 50 thousand new well-paying jobs to a city meant cities all over were offering […]
Using Nash Equilibria to Explain Climate Change
A Nash Equilibrium is defined as a solution to a game in which the players choose strategies that are best responses to each other, so that no player has an incentive to choose an alternative strategy if the strategies of the other players remain unchanged. The author of the linked article describes the current state […]
Echo Chambers & Fake News
https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2017/dec/04/echo-chambers-are-dangerous-we-must-try-to-break-free-of-our-online-bubbles In 1996, MIT researchers Marshall Van Alstyne and Erik Brynjolfsson warned that because of the internet, our newly connected world may lead to some harrowing results. Interconnectivity may pave the way for “Individuals empowered to screen out material that does not conform to their existing preferences may form virtual cliques, insulate themselves from opposing […]
Information Cascades and General Misinformation
Information cascades can have an extremely detrimental effect on society. As an information cascade is inherently illogical and relies on the answers of a few rather than the facts, it can lead to an extreme spread of misinformation that will eventually implode on itself or manipulate public opinion on something that has no basis. Essentially, […]
Is Amazon A Monopoly? Donald Trump Thinks So
The Rich Get Richer Process: Amazon is on track to become the biggest company in the United States, and eventually in the world, surpassing companies like Walmart and Apple. Amazon reported quarterly revenues of $52.9 billion and more than $2 billion in quarterly profits. President Trump is worried that Amazon is turning into a Monopoly. […]
Spam Filters Can Train Themselves
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/spam-shadow-history-of-internet-excerpt-part-one/ This article attempts to outline an alternative history of the internet using the lens of spam (along with the various methods employed to counter spam). As computer scientists started employing methods from other fields such as statistics and data science, they began to use a concept known as native Bayesian analysis to counter spam […]
The Success of the Subtle Asian Dating Page
The Facebook page “subtle asian traits” meme has been blossoming over the past couple of months among the Asian community. As an East-Asian girl, I often chuckle at the hundreds of posts that explain my cultural experience in a meme and tag my friends that I’ve grown up with on those posts. Because of this […]
Bayes’ Theorem and the Existence of God
https://qz.com/1315731/the-most-important-formula-in-data-science-was-first-used-to-prove-the-existence-of-god/ According the article above, Bayes’ Theorem, arguably the most influential formula in all of statistics, has been used extensively in many fields of science since its development in the 18th-century. Today, the theorem is essential for statistical analysis in areas like machine learning, artificial intelligence and medicine. Ironically, however, the first ever use of […]
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