Ebook: Sociophysics: A Physicist's Modeling of Psycho-political Phenomena

Do humans behave much like atoms? Sociophysics, which uses tools and concepts from the physics of disordered matter to describe some aspects of social and political behavior, answers in the affirmative. But advocating the use of models from the physical sciences to understand human behavior could be perceived as tantamount to dismissing the existence of human free will and also enabling those seeking manipulative skills . This thought-provoking book argues it is just the contrary.

Indeed, future developments and evaluation will either show sociophysics to be inadequate, thus supporting the hypothesis that people can primarily be considered to be free agents, or valid, thus opening the path to a radically different vision of society and personal responsibility. This book attempts to explain why and how humans behave much like atoms, at least in some aspects of their collective lives, and then proposes how this knowledge can serve as a unique key to a dramatic leap forwards in achieving more social freedom in the real world. At heart, sociophysics and this book are about better comprehending the richness and potential of our social interaction, and so distancing ourselves from inanimate atoms.

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Do humans behave much like atoms? Sociophysics, which uses tools and concepts from the physics of disordered matter to describe some aspects of social and political behavior, answers in the affirmative. But advocating the use of models from the physical sciences to understand human behavior could be perceived as tantamount to dismissing the existence of human free will and also enabling those seeking manipulative skills. This thought-provoking book argues it is just the contrary.

Indeed, future developments and evaluation will either show sociophyics to be inadequate, thus supporting the hypothesis that people can primarily be considered to be free agents, or valid, thus opening the path to a radically different vision of society and personal responsibility. This book attempts to explain why and how humans behave much like atoms, at least in some aspects of their collective lives, and then proposes how this knowledge can serve as a unique key to a dramatic leap forwards in achieving more social freedom in the real world. At heart, sociophysics and this book are about better comprehending the richness and potential of our social interaction, and so distancing ourselves from inanimate atoms.

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Do humans behave much like atoms? Sociophysics, which uses tools and concepts from the physics of disordered matter to describe some aspects of social and political behavior, answers in the affirmative. But advocating the use of models from the physical sciences to understand human behavior could be perceived as tantamount to dismissing the existence of human free will and also enabling those seeking manipulative skills. This thought-provoking book argues it is just the contrary.

Indeed, future developments and evaluation will either show sociophyics to be inadequate, thus supporting the hypothesis that people can primarily be considered to be free agents, or valid, thus opening the path to a radically different vision of society and personal responsibility. This book attempts to explain why and how humans behave much like atoms, at least in some aspects of their collective lives, and then proposes how this knowledge can serve as a unique key to a dramatic leap forwards in achieving more social freedom in the real world. At heart, sociophysics and this book are about better comprehending the richness and potential of our social interaction, and so distancing ourselves from inanimate atoms.

Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xv
Front Matter....Pages 1-1
What is Sociophysics About?....Pages 3-19
The Question: Do Humans Behave like Atoms?....Pages 21-39
Sociophysics: The Origins....Pages 41-67
Sociophysics: Weaknesses, Achievements, and Challenges....Pages 69-90
Front Matter....Pages 91-91
Sociophysics: An Overview of Emblematic Founding Models....Pages 93-100
Universal Features of Group Decision Making....Pages 101-120
The Dictatorship Paradox of Democratic Bottom-up Voting....Pages 121-137
The Dynamics of Spontaneous Coalition–Fragmentation Versus Global Coalitions....Pages 139-153
Terrorism and the Percolation of Passive Supporters....Pages 155-168
The Modeling of Opinion Dynamics....Pages 169-202
By Way of Caution....Pages 203-205
Front Matter....Pages 207-207
Highlights of the Part....Pages 209-222
Basic Mechanisms for the Perfect Democratic Structure....Pages 223-245
Going to Applications....Pages 247-271
Touching on a Fundamental Aspect of Nature, Both Physical and Human....Pages 273-296
Dictatorship Paradoxes of Democratic Voting in Hierarchical Structures....Pages 297-376
Front Matter....Pages 377-377
Bottom-Up Democratic Voting in a Three-Choice Competition....Pages 379-421
So Sorry, That’s the End of the Tour!....Pages 423-425
I Thank You....Pages 427-428
Back Matter....Pages 429-439

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Do humans behave much like atoms? Sociophysics, which uses tools and concepts from the physics of disordered matter to describe some aspects of social and political behavior, answers in the affirmative. But advocating the use of models from the physical sciences to understand human behavior could be perceived as tantamount to dismissing the existence of human free will and also enabling those seeking manipulative skills. This thought-provoking book argues it is just the contrary.

Indeed, future developments and evaluation will either show sociophyics to be inadequate, thus supporting the hypothesis that people can primarily be considered to be free agents, or valid, thus opening the path to a radically different vision of society and personal responsibility. This book attempts to explain why and how humans behave much like atoms, at least in some aspects of their collective lives, and then proposes how this knowledge can serve as a unique key to a dramatic leap forwards in achieving more social freedom in the real world. At heart, sociophysics and this book are about better comprehending the richness and potential of our social interaction, and so distancing ourselves from inanimate atoms.

Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xv
Front Matter....Pages 1-1
What is Sociophysics About?....Pages 3-19
The Question: Do Humans Behave like Atoms?....Pages 21-39
Sociophysics: The Origins....Pages 41-67
Sociophysics: Weaknesses, Achievements, and Challenges....Pages 69-90
Front Matter....Pages 91-91
Sociophysics: An Overview of Emblematic Founding Models....Pages 93-100
Universal Features of Group Decision Making....Pages 101-120
The Dictatorship Paradox of Democratic Bottom-up Voting....Pages 121-137
The Dynamics of Spontaneous Coalition–Fragmentation Versus Global Coalitions....Pages 139-153
Terrorism and the Percolation of Passive Supporters....Pages 155-168
The Modeling of Opinion Dynamics....Pages 169-202
By Way of Caution....Pages 203-205
Front Matter....Pages 207-207
Highlights of the Part....Pages 209-222
Basic Mechanisms for the Perfect Democratic Structure....Pages 223-245
Going to Applications....Pages 247-271
Touching on a Fundamental Aspect of Nature, Both Physical and Human....Pages 273-296
Dictatorship Paradoxes of Democratic Voting in Hierarchical Structures....Pages 297-376
Front Matter....Pages 377-377
Bottom-Up Democratic Voting in a Three-Choice Competition....Pages 379-421
So Sorry, That’s the End of the Tour!....Pages 423-425
I Thank You....Pages 427-428
Back Matter....Pages 429-439
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