adjacent possible air traffic complex network complexity complex_networks complex_systems creativity cuskley data_compression dynamical_systems evolutionary_dynamics gravino information_theory innovation_dynamics kreyon language_dynamics language_games local optimization loreto monechi opinion_dynamics phylogeny relevant_literature servedio social_dynamics statistical_physics techno_social_systems tria XTribe zippers
2016 |
Monechi, Bernardo; Ruiz-Serrano, Alvaro; Tria, Francesca; Loreto, Vittorio Waves of Novelties in the Expansion into the Adjacent Possible (Journal Article) PloS one, 12 (6), pp. e0179303, 2016. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: adjacent possible, complex systems, innovation, kreyon, popularity, trends) @article{Monechi2016, title = {Waves of Novelties in the Expansion into the Adjacent Possible}, author = {Bernardo Monechi and Alvaro Ruiz-Serrano and Francesca Tria and Vittorio Loreto }, editor = {Public Library of Science}, url = {http://www.socialdynamics.it/pubs/}, year = {2016}, date = {2016-03-21}, journal = {PloS one}, volume = {12}, number = {6}, pages = {e0179303}, abstract = {The emergence of novelties and their rise and fall in popularity is an ubiquitous phenomenon in human activities. The coexistence of always popular milestones with novel and sometimes ephemeral trends pervades technological, scientific and artistic production. By introducing suitable statistical measures, we demonstrate that different systems of human activities, i.e. the creation of hashtags in Twitter, the interaction with online program code repositories, the creation of texts and the listening of songs on an on-line platform, exhibit surprisingly similar properties. We then introduce a general framework to explain those regularities. We propose a simple mathematical model based on the expansion into the adjacent possible, that has been proven to be a very general and powerful mechanism able to explain many of the statistical patterns emerging in innovation dynamics, to which we add two crucial elements. On the one hand we quantify the idea that, while exploring a conceptual or physical space, inertia exists towards known already discovered elements. On the other hand, we highlight the role of the collective dynamics - where many users interact, in a direct or indirect way in the emergence and diffusion of novelties and innovations. }, keywords = {adjacent possible, complex systems, innovation, kreyon, popularity, trends}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } The emergence of novelties and their rise and fall in popularity is an ubiquitous phenomenon in human activities. The coexistence of always popular milestones with novel and sometimes ephemeral trends pervades technological, scientific and artistic production. By introducing suitable statistical measures, we demonstrate that different systems of human activities, i.e. the creation of hashtags in Twitter, the interaction with online program code repositories, the creation of texts and the listening of songs on an on-line platform, exhibit surprisingly similar properties. We then introduce a general framework to explain those regularities. We propose a simple mathematical model based on the expansion into the adjacent possible, that has been proven to be a very general and powerful mechanism able to explain many of the statistical patterns emerging in innovation dynamics, to which we add two crucial elements. On the one hand we quantify the idea that, while exploring a conceptual or physical space, inertia exists towards known already discovered elements. On the other hand, we highlight the role of the collective dynamics - where many users interact, in a direct or indirect way in the emergence and diffusion of novelties and innovations. |
2014 |
Tria, Francesca; Loreto, Vittorio; Servedio, Vito Domenico Pietro; Strogatz, Steven The dynamics of correlated novelties (Journal Article) Nature Scientific Reports, 4 (5890), 2014. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: creativity, innovation, innovation_dynamics, kreyon, loreto, novelties, servedio, tria) @article{b, title = {The dynamics of correlated novelties}, author = {Francesca Tria and Vittorio Loreto and Vito Domenico Pietro Servedio and Steven H. Strogatz}, url = {http://www.nature.com/srep/2014/140731/srep05890/full/srep05890.html}, year = {2014}, date = {2014-01-01}, journal = {Nature Scientific Reports}, volume = {4}, number = {5890}, publisher = {Nature Publishing Group}, abstract = {Novelties are a familiar part of daily life. They are also fundamental to the evolution of biological systems, human society, and technology. By opening new possibilities, one novelty can pave the way for others in a process that Kauffman has called expanding the adjacent possible . The dynamics of correlated novelties, however, have yet to be quantified empirically or modeled mathematically. Here we propose a simple mathematical model that mimics the process of exploring a physical, biological, or conceptual space that enlarges whenever a novelty occurs. The model, a generalization of Polya\'s urn, predicts statistical laws for the rate at which novelties happen (Heaps\' law) and for the probability distribution on the space explored (Zipf\'s law), as well as signatures of the process by which one novelty sets the stage for another. We test these predictions on four data sets of human activity: the edit events of Wikipedia pages, the emergence of tags in annotation systems, the sequence of words in texts, and listening to new songs in online music catalogues. By quantifying the dynamics of correlated novelties, our results provide a starting point for a deeper understanding of the adjacent possible and its role in biological, cultural, and technological evolution.}, keywords = {creativity, innovation, innovation_dynamics, kreyon, loreto, novelties, servedio, tria}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Novelties are a familiar part of daily life. They are also fundamental to the evolution of biological systems, human society, and technology. By opening new possibilities, one novelty can pave the way for others in a process that Kauffman has called expanding the adjacent possible . The dynamics of correlated novelties, however, have yet to be quantified empirically or modeled mathematically. Here we propose a simple mathematical model that mimics the process of exploring a physical, biological, or conceptual space that enlarges whenever a novelty occurs. The model, a generalization of Polya's urn, predicts statistical laws for the rate at which novelties happen (Heaps' law) and for the probability distribution on the space explored (Zipf's law), as well as signatures of the process by which one novelty sets the stage for another. We test these predictions on four data sets of human activity: the edit events of Wikipedia pages, the emergence of tags in annotation systems, the sequence of words in texts, and listening to new songs in online music catalogues. By quantifying the dynamics of correlated novelties, our results provide a starting point for a deeper understanding of the adjacent possible and its role in biological, cultural, and technological evolution. |