Society’s Echo Chambers
Cascading behavior in networks has often been observed in the form of mass adoption of technology, or fads that go in and out of fashion as time passes. While these forms of this phenomenon are ones that often come to mind, a more recent development brought about by the advent of online social networks that […]
Modeling a zombie epidemic using SIR
https://www108.lamp.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/pst/article/view/889 https://www108.lamp.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/pst/article/view/885 ‘Another Zombie Epidemic’ is a revised version of their first paper, ‘A Zombie Epidemic’, which builds on the SIR model to create their desired model for a zombie epidemic. This new model includes more parameters and is more dynamic. The first model placed a time limit of 100 days and did not factor […]
Information cascades as a cause of financial crises
An information cascade is characterized by an instance in which an people view the behavior of others and engage in the same behaviors despite possibly having information or preferences that would influence them to do the opposite. Put simply, information cascades are cause when an individual ignores their own personal inclinations and follows the larger […]
flu epidemic
https://www.otcguide.net/patient-guides/cough-cold-allergy-cold-and-flu-season We are currently in what may be considered the heart of the common cold and flu season. The common cold and flu epidemic is one that can spread rapidly and with it being flu and cold season it is much easier spread while being in a confined environment such as a college campus where […]
Analyzing Social Behavior with Game Theory
Article: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-13148-8 Title: Game Theoretical Inference of Human Behavior in Social Networks In class, we have learned about the utility of Nash equilibriums in predicting game outcomes while analyzing what each actor stands to gain from different actions. We have also learned about power laws, which are related to the concept of preferential attachment (aka […]
Finding Optimal Parking Lot Design
https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/7080920.pdf During the Holiday season, the malls of department stores of America are almost constantly overwhelmed by shoppers wishing to extract (or in this case save) as much wealth as possible on any given desired good without any reciprocal payment. This behavior is known in economics as rent-seeking behavior. Like a toaster, new video game, […]
Computer Viruses Model Real Viruses
https://uk.norton.com/norton-blog/2016/02/the_8_most_famousco.html This article, which provides a list of eight famous computer viruses, is a short but interesting read, if not a bit BuzzFeed-y in style. In class we considered the spread of actual viruses, such as the flu. Computer viruses (more appropriately malware, of which viruses are just one type) are aptly named, as they […]
How I Learned to Stop Zombieing and Love the Vaccine
In class, we discussed the SIR model of disease transmission. Different variants of the SIR model are the standard differential equation model for disease spread. In class, we analyzed the SIR model by calculating the expected number of transmissions per person. We argued that if this number were less than 1, the disease would eventually […]
Network Effect on Social Media Activism
https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/hashtag-activism-hashtag10-twitter-trends-dresslik/ A network effect is the effect described in economics and business that an additional user of goods or services has on the value of that product to others. When a network effect is present, the value of a product or service increases according to the number of others using it. In the modern age, […]
Pneumonic Plague Is Diagnosed in China
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/13/world/asia/plague-china-pneumonic.html This New York Times article discusses how two people in Beijing were diagnosed with the plague where everyone in Beijing, especially the government, became worried about this disease spreading. It mentioned in the article that these two people were from Mongolia, northern China. They were brought to the hospital and diagnosed with the pneumonic […]
« go back — keep looking »