Derek Muller explains why many real-world systems follow power laws rather than normal distributions, using simulations of sandpiles, magnetism, and forest fires.
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To play around with the simulations in the video, you can follow these links:
Sandpiles - veritasium.com/simulation3
Ising model (magnetism) - veritasium.com/simulation4
Forest fires - veritasium.com/simulation5
If you’re looking for a molecular modelling kit, try Snatoms, a kit I invented where the atoms snap together magnetically - ve42.co/SnatomsV
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A huge thanks to Steven Strogatz, Mark Buchanan and Mark Newman for their time and expertise.
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CHAPTERS:
What is a power law?
Expected Values
The St. Petersburg Paradox
Outliers Dominate Averages
Fractals and Power Laws
Self-Organized Criticality
Why do we light controlled forest fires?
How We Can Predict Earthquakes
Critical Systems and Universality
How Some Businesses Are Built On Power Laws
What game are you playing? Normal or power?
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References: ve42.co/PowerLawsRefs
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Special thanks to our Patreon supporters:
Adam Foreman, Albert Wenger, Alex Porter, Alexander Tamas, Anton Ragin, Anupam Banerjee, armedtoe, Bertrand Serlet, Blake Byers, Bruce, Dave Kircher, David Johnston, David Tseng, Evgeny Skvortsov, Garrett Mueller, Gnare, gpoly, Hayden Christensen, Ibby Hadeed, Jeromy Johnson, Jon Jamison, Juan Benet, KeyWestr, Kyi, Lee Redden, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Matthias Wrobel, Meekay, meg noah, Michael Bush, Michael Krugman, Orlando Bassotto, Paul Peijzel, Richard Sundvall, Robert Oliveira, Sam Lutfi, Tj Steyn, Ubiquity Ventures & wolfee
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Writers - James Moore, Casper Mebius & Derek Muller
Producer & Director - James Moore
Presenters - Derek Muller & Casper Mebius
Editors - Jack Saxon & Peter Nelson
Animators - Fabio Albertelli, Emma Wright, Saif Javed & Andrew Neet
Additional Editor - James Stuart
Researchers - Aakash Singh Bagga & Callum Cuttle
Simulations - Aakash Singh Bagga
Thumbnail Designers - Abdallah Rabah, Ren Hurley & Ben Powell
Production Team - Josh Pitt, Matthew Cavanagh, Anna Milkovic & Katy Southwood
Executive Producers - Derek Muller & Casper Mebius
Additional video/photos supplied by Getty Images, Storyblocks
Music from Epidemic Sound
Why it's here
4 people recommend this
What people say. Recommended for its clear explanation of power laws, phase transitions, and self-organized criticality in complex systems.
i
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