Social networks are a hyperdimensional surface, and you can think of things spreading in that surface. So for example, the germ is spreading,you can think of waves of germs in that surface and waves of information in thatsurface. And so the question is, which wave, like, how do they reinforce each other? A wave of misinformation, you see, can reinforce a wave of the spread of the germ, or vice versa. You can borrow a certain kind of mathematics involving differential equations and other ideas to model these, the wave interference pattern. It's just a change in social order.
How do diseases and information spread? On this episode, Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice discover the history of pandemics, how social networks impact spread, and the hidden math behind it with sociologist Nicholas Christakis.
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