Social Physics IV: Data-Driven Cities
Quick overview: Sandy Pentland subscribes to the kind of ecological view that a lot of my recent sources have espoused- an emphasis on the relations between objects, instead of on the objects themselves. He argues for a “computational theory of behavior”, using Big Data and a system of collection/observation that he calls “reality mining”: the point is to more »
Social Physics III: Organizations
Quick overview: Sandy Pentland subscribes to the kind of ecological view that a lot of my recent sources have espoused- an emphasis on the relations between objects, instead of on the objects themselves. He argues for a “computational theory of behavior”, using Big Data and a system of collection/observation that he calls “reality mining”: the point is more »
Social Physics II
This is part two (of presumably five?) of Pentland’s Social Physics. I’m roughly following the sections that the book lays out, in order. Part 0: Some immediate personal/social context, what I’m thinking about before reading. Part 1 was on the basic premise of the book This part is about the foundations of Social Physics (Social Learning, Idea more »
Social Physics I
Pulling heavily from the introduction to Social Physics. Frankly, skimming below for emphasized words and block quotes will get you the gist, but I like to shore up with quotes directly from the source. And sometimes, I like to bloviate. — I. If I were preparing to create a PBS documentary of this book, I’d probably more »
Social Physics and Algorithmic Prisons
I. “Prom Week” When I was in school, I attended a lecture given by Michael Mateas, who talked a bit about videogames involving social interaction. Mateas was already well-known for Facade (actual game here), and was working on a new game called “Prom Week”. “Prom Week” was developed to explore the gap that I’ve touched on more »
The New Games Movement
I. Play Hard. Play Fair. Nobody Hurt. I’m returning again to Stewart Brand, the Counterculture, and tying it back in to my long-running series of notes on game studies. Someone- I forget who and it’s probably unimportant- was observing puppies play, and interpreted their play as an exchange of signals: “I could hurt you if more »
Mulling: Machines and Theories
I’ve been overworking a bit. I still wrote a little bit but nothing too coherent. (What else is new.) Part of my problem was that I temporarily stopped flying, and those three-hour sessions of confinement (plus the free drinks) were a big part of my usual writing ritual for this blog. I’m in the air more »
Text Dump: Infantilization, Dreamlogs, Liberation through Laziness
I think this happens often- when your mind changes, the network of ideas that supported your previous worldview crumble a bit, and it becomes a little bit harder to earnestly work out why the old idea was so convincing. The new idea is just so obvious. This blog has helped by acting as a repository more »
Mulling: Changing Minds
In the game “Argument Champion“, A little demon appears and shows you the thought bubbles of your audience’s beliefs [for example “I like headers” or “I dislike squids”]. Connect “positive” beliefs to your nonsense cause and “negative” ones to your opponent’s, by navigating a grid of related terms and trying to cover the smallest topological more »
From Counterculture to Cyberculture III
From Counterculture to Cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth Network, and the Rise of Digital Utopianism Part 1 here: broad overview and tracing through the changing connotation of the “Computational Metaphor” from one of dehumanization and control to one of anonymity, equality, and freedom. Part 2 here: On Stewart Brand’s education and the Whole Earth Network. This more »