Information cascades occur very often in nature.  One typical example is the case of army ants.  Throughout their history forager ants developed an evolutionary trait whereby, when separated from the group of other forager ants, one ant chooses a random direction and the other “lost” ants simply follow the ant in front of them.   Eventually, […]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/09/science/09tier.html
http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/09/how-the-low-fat-low-fact-cascade-just-keeps-rolling-along/
The article that I’ve chosen for this post (first link) is about how the medical world was duped into the cascading idea that a low-fat diet would lower the risk of heart disease. John Tierney, a science columnist for The New York Times, cites Gary Taubes’ book, Good Calories, Bad Calories to explain the steps […]

Diet and Fat: A Severe Case of Mistaken Consensus
By John Tierny
New York Times Article: October 9, 2007
In class we have been discussing this notion of information cascades and how easily we can be influence by the choice of others. One interesting figure that was mentioned in the article points to research done by a […]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/09/science/09tier.html?_r=2&em&ex=1192248000&en=9f36687fe8aef756&ei=5087%0A&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
In yesterday’s lecture, we began discussing information cascades. The above referenced New York Times article highlights a very interesting cascade whose effect can still be seen prevalent today. In his article, John Tierney discusses the book “Good Calories, Bad Calories” by Gary Taubes. In the book, Taubes describes an inaccurate cascade about heart disease […]

Before the break, our classroom discussions focused on information networks and search. The Internet allows access to tons of information, however the underlying structure of that information can play a critical role in improving – or making worse – its own usefulness. Search engines such as Google and Yahoo have enjoyed meteoric rises because of […]

Let’s face it, after hearing about Spitzer’s adventures at The Emperor’s Club a couple of days ago, the first website most of you visited was not CNN.com, but MySpace - I know I did. After spending a couple (ok, give me more credit than that - 15) minutes looking at “Kristen’s” bikini picture, a thought […]

Watching Monty Python the other day, I found my thoughts wandering once again back to Networks 204 and Gladwell’s description of a syphilis epidemic in Baltimore: how it spread from the projects along local highways during summer months and contracted during the winter. Explicitly drawing a connection between contagious viral diseases and transportation networks […]

At the beginning of the semester we were given a sheet depicting numerous real life models of a variety of social networks. Most of edges concerned interaction between nodes, such as the spread of informational e-mails, friendships within organizations and clubs, or the outbreak of a disease. This blog focuses on a more theoretical […]

The Game theory, which we learned in class, can be applied to athletes with doping. The game played is similar to prisoner’s dilemma. Say there are two athletes, A and B. A thinks if B doesn’t take any drugs, then it will be in A’s best interest to take them. A taking the drugs will […]

Social ties might not only predict power or influence over others, but also may have an effect on cognitive health as we age. In the New York Times article Forget Something? Then Read This, Richard Friedman discusses the importance of socializing in old age. Friedman mentions that scientists have known for a […]