Stampede Theory
Human Nature, Technology, and Runaway Social Realities
- 1st Edition - April 26, 2023
- Imprint: Elsevier
- Author: Philip Feldman
- Language: English
- Paperback ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 3 - 1 3 7 3 5 - 8
- eBook ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 3 - 1 3 7 3 6 - 5
Stampede Theory: Human Nature, Technology, and Runaway Social Realities explores the biological, evolutionary and technological systems that drive troubling patterns of behavior… Read more
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Request a sales quoteStampede Theory: Human Nature, Technology, and Runaway Social Realities explores the biological, evolutionary and technological systems that drive troubling patterns of behavior among groups while also proposing actions to combat harm. The book discusses different ways that living beings coordinate and how the emergence of communication technologies has changed behaviors. As the problem of echo chambers and misinformation grows, it is crucial to understand underlying causes and provide solutions—this book does just that by pulling from multiple fields to produce a coherent story about how social realities are created and how they can create resilient communities or reinforce damaging beliefs.
This interdisciplinary approach rests on three primary pillars: 1) How information systems affect the distribution of ideas, information, influence and belief; 2. Technology-mediated communication between individuals and groups, from stories pressed into clay tablets to “likes” on social media; 3) The sociology of behavioral bias in groups ranging from teams to nations. Because of its interdisciplinary foundations, the book includes chapters that address behavioral economics, cults, artificial intelligence, and the individual psychology of belief. This will be a valuable resource for a range of readers, from political and social scientists to decision-makers in government and business, scientists in the fields of machine learning and AI, and more.
- Presents a usable framework to approach and understand current sociotechnical trends, as well as methods for repair in order to create resilient, sustainable online environments
- Establishes an understanding of the deep biases in human nature and how they interact with technology
- Details specific mechanisms to approach the repair of our sociotechnical systems, including diversity injection and belief cartography
Political and social scientists studying large scale patterns of behavior, information systems, human group behavior, technology-mediated communication, and ecology; graduate university or college courses on interdisciplinary studies; decision makers in government and business. Scientists in the fields of machine learning and AI; media professionals working to make sense of the world in a time of vast amounts of misinformation and polarization
- Cover image
- Title page
- Table of Contents
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Biography
- Philip Feldman, Ph.D.
- Preface
- References
- Chapter One: Introduction
- Abstract
- References
- Part One: Theory
- Chapter Two: From the Serengeti to the Ecclesia
- Abstract
- References
- Chapter Three: Deep bias
- Abstract
- 3.1. Social Dominance Theory
- 3.2. The deep bias for causing harm
- 3.3. Morality and reverse dominance
- 3.4. The egalitarian ethos
- References
- Chapter Four: Humans and information
- Abstract
- 4.1. Phase locking
- 4.2. Alignment in belief space
- 4.3. Lists, stories, games, and maps
- 4.4. Projection and the loss of self
- References
- Chapter Five: Human belief spaces
- Abstract
- 5.1. Dimension reduction
- 5.2. State
- 5.3. Orientation
- 5.4. Speed
- 5.5. Social influence horizon
- References
- Chapter Six: Influence + dominance = attention
- Abstract
- 6.1. Hansie the Stork
- 6.2. Influence and attention
- 6.3. Fashion
- 6.4. Thinking as groups and populations
- 6.5. Thinking (with) machines
- References
- Chapter Seven: Hierarchies, networks, and technology
- Abstract
- 7.1. Dominance displays
- References
- Part Two: Practice
- Chapter Eight: Interview with a biased machine
- Abstract
- References
- Chapter Nine: The spacecraft of Babel
- Abstract
- 9.1. When space has only one dimension
- 9.2. The overwhelming power of stories
- 9.3. Narrative drift
- 9.4. The narratives of science
- References
- Chapter Ten: Influence networks and the power of money
- Abstract
- References
- Chapter Eleven: Cults, hierarchies, and the doomed voyage of the Pequod
- Abstract
- 11.1. A charismatic religious social movement
- 11.2. An apocalyptic ideology
- 11.3. A form of social organization adequate to maintain solidarity
- 11.4. Legitimacy enough among followers to exercise collective social control over the affairs of the community
- 11.5. Sufficient economic and political viability
- 11.6. Life within strong social boundaries in cognitive isolation from society at large
- References
- Chapter Twelve: Escaping cults, deprogramming, and diversity
- Abstract
- References
- Chapter Thirteen: Population-computer interfaces
- Abstract
- 13.1. The signature of dangerous misinformation
- 13.2. Diversity injection
- 13.3. A PSA for the information age
- 13.4. Example: The Google Doodle
- 13.5. Example: The DARPA Red Network Challenge
- 13.6. Trustworthy social information
- References
- Chapter Fourteen: Belief geography and cartography
- Abstract
- 14.1. Belief cartography
- 14.2. The world in stories
- 14.3. Worlds in 175 billion parameters
- 14.4. A world of pure social reality
- 14.5. The moon landing was a hoax!
- 14.6. The Flat Earth
- 14.7. The government is the enemy
- 14.8. Jews and Puppetmasters
- 14.9. Princess Diana, greedy companies, and Elvis
- 14.10. The map and the territory
- References
- Chapter Fifteen: Belief stampedes
- Abstract
- References
- Chapter Sixteen: Future cartographers
- Abstract
- References
- Chapter Seventeen: Epilogue
- Abstract
- References
- References
- References
- Index
- Edition: 1
- Published: April 26, 2023
- Imprint: Elsevier
- No. of pages: 266
- Language: English
- Paperback ISBN: 9780443137358
- eBook ISBN: 9780443137365
PF
Philip Feldman
Dr. Philip Feldman has spent most of his career building technology for people to use: graphical interfaces, robots, even exercise machines that play video games. He has degrees in art and ecology, as well as a PhD in Human Centered Computing. He has 12 patents, and his academic research focuses on how technology affects why people believe things and how populations make decisions. He has developed several techniques for polling populations using large transformer language models, which allow the latent beliefs of a group to be explored. Dr. Feldman has been a developer and entrepreneur, helping to start small companies that range from medical to virtual reality. He is currently a research professor in Information Systems at the University of Maryland Baltimore County where he studies how to build diverse and resilient systems and that can improve the way we communicate with each other through our ever-present devices.
Affiliations and expertise
Research Professor, Information Systems, University of Maryland Baltimore County, USARead Stampede Theory on ScienceDirect