James Brody
February 2nd, 2009, 12:04 PM
"... depending solely on the ability of individuals to interact in a network, as well as the number of connections they have to other participants and other structural properties, there are networks that generate the global adoption of minority viewpoints. In addition, the team demonstrated, individuals with extreme behaviors, or a greater awareness of the incentives of others, may actually improve the collective performance of the group. Put simply, stubbornness or extremism may pay off when it comes to social welfare.
"Michael Kearns, professor in the Department of Computer and Information Science at Penn, demonstrated in 81 separate experiments that network structure alone can affect outcomes, relationships and behavior."
More at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090128122824.htm
See also open-access pdf at http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/01/23/0808147106.full.pdf+html?sid=f6459c91-a778-44a3-86b1-8764c1f11327
"Michael Kearns, professor in the Department of Computer and Information Science at Penn, demonstrated in 81 separate experiments that network structure alone can affect outcomes, relationships and behavior."
More at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090128122824.htm
See also open-access pdf at http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/01/23/0808147106.full.pdf+html?sid=f6459c91-a778-44a3-86b1-8764c1f11327