Name: Social Physics
Rating: 4.2 (17 reviews)
Author: Alex Pentland

Introduction

What’s in it for me? Learn how the data we generate everyday can be used to unlock the secrets of human interaction.

Every time you call someone on your mobile phone, surf the internet, download an app or use your travel card, you generate data. And if you think about how many of us across the world do each of these things everyday, that’s an awful lot of data!

For social scientists, this information on where you’ve been, who you’ve talked to and what you’ve bought is incredibly useful. If it is carefully collected and analyzed, the data can teach us everything we’ve ever wanted to know about how we behave.

These blinks provide some insight into what the scientists have found. Read on and you’ll discover the secrets of human interaction and how we can design a society which perfectly suits us.

In these blinks you’ll learn

what the perfect society looks like;
the power of peer pressure; and
what makes Zurich the best city to live in.

Key idea 1 of 8

Social physics uses the huge amount of data available in our modern world to analyze human behavior.

We’re all familiar with the concept of “physics” and “social science.” But have you ever heard of social physics?

Social physics is an approach to understanding human behavior – one that aims to find out what we’re really doing, and not what we think we are doing.

Social physics takes one huge idea from traditional physics, namely the idea that the flow of energy translates into changes in motion. Think of how, if the wind blows hard enough, it can pluck an apple from a tree, for example.

We can apply this concept to human behavior as well, by analyzing how the flow of ideas and information – much like energy – translates into changes in human behavior.

Unlike traditional approaches to understanding human society, however, social physics doesn’t use abstract models of human behavior. Instead, it uses living labs.

Instead of using one-time surveys and lab experiments that analyze a particular element of behavior, social physics uses data from every facet of our behavior over a much longer period of time, often spanning years.

Social physics makes good use of big data, i.e., a huge collection of information, which can then be analyzed for patterns. Some of this data takes the form of “digital bread crumbs.” Our credit cards, for example, show where we buy goods, cell phone data shows where we are and even who we’re talking to.

Another tool in social physics’ arsenal is the sociometric badge, devices worn around the neck that capture data about our body language during interactions.

In analyzing this huge collection of data, patterns emerge about an individual’s or a community's life – a process known as “reality mining.” And behind these patterns lies the truth about human behavior.

Key idea 2 of 8

Social physics has revealed that our peer groups heavily determine our behavior.

Would you consider yourself to be pretty independent? You probably make your own decisions based on your own personal, rational thoughts, right?

Most of us believe this to be true, likewise most believe that society is comprised of individuals who make rational choices based on self-interest.

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Key idea 3 of 8

Adopting the behaviors that we observe to be beneficial helps us to thrive in social groups.

Having just read about how heavily influenced you are by other people’s behavior, you might be thinking: “Yeah right! I saw two people fighting at my favorite bar the other night, but I didn’t jump in just because of peer pressure!”

Well, good for you! But that’s really nothing to brag about. In order for behavioral change to spread across a peer group, it must match these two criteria:

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Key idea 4 of 8

Social physics has shown that social incentives work much better than individual ones.

In 2009 a department at the US Department of Defense celebrated the 40th anniversary of the creation of the internet by creating what became known as the red balloon challenge:

Ten red weather balloons were hidden around the United States, and teams had to utilize the internet and social media to discover their locations. The winning team would win $40,000.

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Key idea 5 of 8

Freely flowing ideas and community engagement are crucial for innovative, productive societies.

The question of how to best organize our society is one with which humanity has been engaged since the dawn of civilization. Today, we generate a huge amount of data from a wealth of resources, which gives us some deeper insights into what types of society work best.

Social physics has shown two factors can make for a more productive, harmonious society:

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Key idea 6 of 8

Social physics can show us what type of city will produce the best environment for innovation.

In the previous blink, you learned how societies that balance exploration (the flow of ideas between different groups) and engagement (strong interactions between people) offer the greatest potential for innovation and productivity.

But how can we ensure that our societies offer both?

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Key idea 7 of 8

The most productive teams are those in which members can closely interact with their counterparts.

As we’ve seen, engagement and exploration are critical in developing societies that function at their very best. Interestingly, these same principles also apply to smaller groups, such as teams at work.

Indeed, the most productive teams are those in which people are encouraged to interact and engage.

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Key idea 8 of 8

We need to fundamentally rethink who owns the data we create.

You may or may not be aware that everything you do online leaves a digital footprint. Whether it’s the books you buy on Amazon, the transactions you make with your debit card at the gas station or logging into online banking, your digital trail can be found everywhere.

Despite this being “your” data, private companies are able to profit from it by selling it to advertisers. You have no say in this whatsoever, and this has to change.

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Social Physics summary