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The Social Atom: Why The Rich Get Richer, Cheaters Get Caught, And Your Neighbour Usually Looks Like You

Mark Buchanan

Hardback

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The Social Atom: Why The Rich Get Richer, Cheaters Get Caught, And Your Neighbour Usually Looks Like You

Synopsis

By a major science writer, The Social Atom explains - and even predicts - human behaviour and decision-making through the lens of physics. How do trends in fashions begin? Why do traffic jams appear on unobstructed road? Why do financial markets behave in a way that consistently confounds economists? Why do we end up living in racially segregated neighbourhoods? Why do friends and neighbours turn against one another in times of war? While a single person's motives and decisions may be beyond the scope of scientific enquiry, groups of individuals behave in more predictable ways. Using the tools of physics, the author discovers that the same patterns of behaviour crop up over and over again, even when the outcome is something that no particular individual would have desired.