The sand pile model

07/10/23 • 26 min

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When a system fails, how do you think about cause and effect? One way to consider this in complex systems is to imagine a pile of sand, and dropping one grain of sand at a time in random positions onto the pile. As time passes, you'll start to form little hills. Eventually, a grain of sand will hit one of these hills, and you get an avalanche.

Do you believe that the avalanche was caused by the last grain of sand falling onto it, or do you believe that the avalanche happened due to the shape of the hill itself? To explore this sand pile model, we are joined today by Neil Johnson, Professor of Physics and Head of the Dynamic Online Networks Lab at George Washington University.

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This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Connect:

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

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Big Ideas: Information

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When most of us think about information, we think of it as something we can possess or ‘know’. But what if it’s so much more than that?

In this episode, we’re joined by Sara Walker, Deputy Director of the Beyond Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science, Associate Professor in Earth and Space Exploration and Complex Adaptive Systems at Arizona State University, and External Faculty at the Santa Fe Institute. Sara is going to examine information and the critical role it plays in complex systems.

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This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

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If you're a child born into a poor family in the United States, what are the most important factors in your life that will influence whether or not you're able to rise out of poverty?

To answer that question, we're joined again by Matthew Jackson, William D. Eberle Professor of Economics at Stanford University, and External Faculty at the Santa Fe Institute.

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Connect:

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.