Download PDF The Human Network How Your Social Position Determines Your Power Beliefs and Behaviors Matthew O Jackson 9781101871430 Books

Product details Hardcover 352 pages Publisher Pantheon (March 5, 2019) Language English ISBN-10 1101871431

The Human Network How Your Social Position Determines Your Power Beliefs and Behaviors Matthew O Jackson 9781101871430 Books Reviews

• Why 4, not 5? I struggled. I don't quite know why. The topic was interesting. The prose was clear. (After 40 years in IT I did have to do a memory erase - not an ethernet to be found.) Perhaps Dr. Jackson deserves a 5 and the -1 is my fault. Read it - and you should read it - and draw your own conclusions.
  
  The essence of the book is a demonstration of the old saw "it's not what you know it's who you know. Dr. Jackson explains that it's not only your friends but their friends that matter. And how are you connected? Do you have the "right" connections? Part of my problem is that I had difficulty visualizing the various networks. That has usually not been.a problem for me. What is clear and well explained is how the instant connectivity of the Internet amplifies both good and bad in particular panics and misinformation. Homophily is the central theme the tendency for people to seek out or be attracted to those who are similar to themselves. In other words the social media "echo chamber."
  
  Two slightly off topic notes
  1) I was educated as an engineer in the 60's. The advance of knowledge since that time is.mind boggling .
  
  2) The American musician Taylor Swift's Twitter account has 83.1 million followers. She, Miss Swift, follows no one. In network terms she is centric to a huge network. If one goes out four links she via friends of friends of friends of friends is likely connected to every Twitter user. The question what would be the value if you were the only person Miss Swift followed?
  
  Enjoy the book.
• A scholarly, yet readable, discussion on the influence of inter-relationships among people, and institutions, on a variety of behaviors and cultural trends. While the expansive nature of the author's view can be interesting, the downside is that often the book feels unfocused and rambling, and though an attempt is made to unify the different topics with a common theme of "networks," the use of that term seems more an exercise in semantics than a compellling platform that merits analysis on its own. Given the title, author's prestige, and description of this book, I was somewhat disappointed; while I am clearly no expert on this subject, even as a layperson I ended up learning less than I had hoped.
• this 'pop science' book is ever so much better than the ""The Misinformation Age How False Beliefs Spread" book that is an example of Feynman's cargo cult pseudo-science.
• Early in the book, Jackson says, "There are a few key patterns of networks that matter, and so the story here involves more than just one idea hammered home." This really distinguishes this book from many other popular books about social science. Some push one idea to its breaking point. Some want to teach you some hokey "laws" with a self-help flavor. Some, upon scrutiny, have no real ideas at all. Jackson's book is the opposite of that approach - it reads like science, written for an equal.
  
  A little background Jackson is, of social scientists active today, one of the most admired for brilliance and originality - an intellectual giant at the intersection of economics, sociology, and the other fields where networks are studied.
  
  The book distills what he considers the most important insights in his field. Some of these have to do with why networks look the way they look. Why do centuries-old immigration patterns still shape the ethnic patterns of social networks in American towns today? Why do financial systems get so tangled up that they can be toppled by a single bad event?
  
  But where the book really shines is in explaining how the patterns hidden within networks affect outcomes. Why does being in a position of high "betweenness," as the Medici were in Florence, predict political power? Who is the best person in a network to spread a rumor? It's not the one with the most connections, as you might guess. What measurement of a person's social connections predicts their economic mobility best?
  
  Jackson uses the latest social science research to teach the answers to these questions and illuminate the profound effects of our networks on almost every aspect of our lives.
  
  The book is not a breezy, fluffy read. It doesn't have formulas, but it demands a lot from you, as a great college course would. In return, it is immensely rewarding - a friendly guided tour of some of the most exciting research in social science.
• This book shows you facts about the world that make so much sense even though you never really thought about them before. For example when Chris Rock jokes "All my black friends have a bunch of white friends and all my white friends have one black friend," that math is simple The average member of the majority will always know fewer people members of a minority group than vice versa.
  
  Actually most white Americans have zero black friends, Jackson notes, which is another thing the book shows you we're surrounded by webs of influence that aren't all that fair. If we want to thrive and boost others we should understand that, and Jackson can help.
  
  By the way, I got an advance copy to interview Jackson for my podcast What and Why with Max Roth. (Shameless plug!)
• I picked this book up after reading a Wall Street Journal review. The book is so timely with what is going on in our political world and the college admissions scandal, among other things. The author chooses very interesting examples to illustrate why inequality in our society is perpetual. A great read for a complex topic--highly recommend!