Social Physics: Post #1--Overview

Overview: Sandy Pentland is the BIG daddy of BIG data! Using new sophisticated technology (sociometers) that track primal interactions between people and their networks, Pentland and his legion of MIT doctoral students have given us something akin to the Rosetta Stone for understanding how ideas spread, how people thrive, and how teams and organizations excel. Using his research-based theory “social physics,” we can actually see how ideas flow, who influences decisions, and how simple interactions like facing people, gesturing, being engaged and exploring the world can make us and those around us successful, influential, creative, and innovative.

Social Physics: How Good Ideas Spread—The Lessons from a New Science (The Penguin Press, 2014), by Alex “Sandy” Pentland, reviewed by Steve Gladis