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Social Physics: How Good Ideas Spread | Sandy Pentland | Talks at Google

Talks at Google

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  • Recommended by 3 people: 3 on Hacker News.
  • A classic. People kept recommending it from 2015 to 2019.
  • Presented by Sandy Pentland, Professor at MIT
  • May be out of date. Uploaded 12 years ago, in an area where tools change fast.

Beginner. No background in the topic needed.

52K views12 years ago3 recommendations

AI and machine learningCode review and teamworkClassic machine learning

MIT Professor Sandy Pentland explains how big data and social networks can be used to analyze and optimize the flow of ideas in groups.

From one of the world's leading data scientists, a landmark tour of the new science of idea flow, offering revolutionary insights into the mysteries of collective intelligence and social influence. If the Big Data revolution has a presiding genius, it is MIT's Alex "Sandy" Pentland. Over years of groundbreaking experiments, he has distilled remarkable discoveries significant enough to become the bedrock of a whole new scientific field: social physics. Humans have more in common with bees than we like to admit: We're social creatures first and foremost. Our most important habits of action—and most basic notions of common sense—are wired into us through our coordination in social groups. Social physics is about idea flow, the way human social networks spread ideas and transform those ideas into behaviors. - from Penguin Press. See more at: goo.gl/ABRWS0

Why it's here

3 people recommend this

What people say. Recommended for its insights into collective intelligence, productivity, and how physical and social networks influence the spread of ideas.

legelon Hacker News • Recommends

On “New Cities”

The most profound thing I know about cities + public policy: Google hosted a talk in 2014 by MIT Professor Sandy Pentland called "Social Physics: How Good Ideas Spread". His research concludes that our connectivity - free and fast flow of data on networks, people on roads, goods and services, etc. - is our greatest economic and social virtue. His models show - "like a law" - that the more connected we are, the wealthier we are as a society. Check it out: link to this video And good luck to everyone behind this.
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patconon Hacker News • Recommends

On “How Trolls Overran the Public Square”

Yay! Social physics :) There's a great Authors at Google talk by Sandy Pentland, about his book of the same name. Gives a good overview of the book, but 100% still worth a read after watching, esp if you are someone who works with (or would like to work with) large groups of people -- event organizing, companies, community, group facilitation, etc. link to this video
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gd2on Hacker News • Recommends

On “Two scientists meeting on a bus leads to discovery in the lab”

Sandy Pentland: "Social Physics: How Good Ideas Spread" | Talks at Google similar theme. link to this video I think its in this video that he talks about the productivity gains of the seemingly random exchanges of ideas, and the possibility to increase them by scheduling and thoughtfully designed common areas.
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legelon Hacker News • Recommends

On “From Radio to Porn, British Spies Track Web Users’ Online Identities”

…ltimately that individual is made both completely vulnerable and completely powerless. Lanier's book is intentionally provocative and controversial, while rather intelligent and compassionate in its spirit, and I recommend checking it out: link . The second term comes from a talk at Google in 2014 called "Social Physics: How Good Ideas Spread" ( link to this video ) by MIT Professor Sandy Pentland. He describes research supporting the recent Nature publication you link to on social and cultural progress, which concludes that our connectivity - free and fast flow of data on networks, people on roads, goods and services across nations, etc. - is our greatest economic and social virtue. His statistical…
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patconon Hacker News • Mentions

On “Parable of the Polygons (2014)”

The field of social physics has lots to say about this: link to this video link > What pattern of exploration and social learning produced the best outcome? We discovered the answer when we plotted the return on investment each trader got against the diversity of ideas he or she harvested through social learning. Social physics supports a framing that groups are like "machines for finding the best ideas", and having group members with access to diverse sources of ideas (polygons from different spaces and experiences count as this) is part of a properly calibrated social network where the best ideas are within reach, to address any given challenge that may surface.
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patconon Hacker News • Mentions

On “I tricked myself into working out 3 times per week”

Nice! In case anyone is interested in the science of this effect and it's surprising power, this is an almost exact reproduction of an experiment, in the field of "connection science" or "social physics". (NOTE: The true value here is in the CROSS-INCENTIVIZATION with an existing social relationship, not just the money) The general truism that falls out of it is: When possible, always apply incentives to the social fabric, not individuals. i.e. incentivize the edges of the graph (the relationships), rather than the nodes (the people) in isolation. Seek results by always opting to strengthen social bonds, instead of trying to bend people (who are social creatures) into actions while neglectin…
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