Scaling Theory

#11 – Stefan Thurner: The Scaling of Everything

Nov 8, 2024

Stefan Thurner, a leading theoretical physicist and President of the Complexity Science Hub Vienna, shares his insights on the scaling laws that govern various systems. He discusses how these laws can enhance economic resilience and affect social dynamics. The conversation dives into the unique ways men and women organize social networks and the role of small companies in economic risks. Thurner emphasizes the importance of applying physics methodologies to understand complex interactions in both societal and financial contexts.

34:15

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Episode guests

Stefan Thurner

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Quick takeaways

The universal application of scaling laws across social, financial, and biological systems highlights unexpected interrelationships that can enhance our understanding of complex dynamics.

Research indicates that gender differences in social network organization influence cooperative links and risk dynamics, necessitating nuanced strategies for network analysis.

Deep dives

Scaling Laws and Unexpected Discoveries

The conversation highlights the concept of scaling laws, which depict how various systems exhibit predictable relationships between size and function across diverse fields. One surprising finding discussed is that many systems driven out of equilibrium tend to display scaling laws, indicating a universal characteristic of complex systems. This broad applicability emphasizes a pattern where seemingly disparate social, financial, and biological dynamics can be understood through a unified lens of scaling. This insight challenges traditional notions by demonstrating that unexpected connections among fields can lead to a deeper understanding of dynamics in society and economy.

Intro

2min

Scaling Laws and Social Networks

6min

Understanding Systemic Risk in Financial Networks

2min

Exploring Social Phase Transitions: Communication and Society

3min

Understanding Economic Systemic Risk

7min

Navigating Complexity in Science and Society

15min

My guest is Stefan Thurner, A Professor of theoretical physics, and the President of the Complexity Science Hub in Vienna. Stefan has published over 240 scientific articles and he was elected Austrian Scientist of the Year 2017. He is also an external professor at the Santa Fe Institute.

In our conversation, we first delve into the scaling laws of everything. We explore social, financial, biological, and economic dynamics—for example, how to make the economy more resilient by targeting some unique companies, how social bubbles form, the strength of networks of friends and foes in social contexts, and how the methodology of physics can help us understand other fields, etc. I hope you enjoy our discussion.

Find me on X at @⁠⁠⁠⁠ProfSchrepel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Also, be sure to subscribe.

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References:

➝ Measuring social dynamics in a massive multiplayer online game (2010)

➝ How women organize social networks different from men (2013)

➝ Multirelational Organization of Large-Scale Social Networks in an Online World (2010)

➝ What is the minimal systemic risk in financial exposure networks? (2020)

➝ Scaling laws and persistence in human brain activity (2003)

➝ New Forms of Collaboration Between the Social and Natural Sciences Could Become Necessary for Understanding Rapid Collective (2024)

➝ Quantifying firm‐level economic systemic risk from nation‐wide supply networks (2022)

➝ Fitting Power-laws in Empirical Data with Estimators that Work for All Exponents (2017)

➝ Complex Systems: Physics Beyond Physics (2017)