Can a Society Have a Phase Transition? (Mathematical Sociodynamics Reading Group #1)

Mox Event Space (Mission 13th St) Event source calendar Event Link: see venue calendar above ^^ Mathematical Sociodynamics reading group (Psychohistory but real) Can we predict human behavior using the mathematics of physics? People walking through crowds spontaneously form lanes. Traffic jams emerge without central coordination. Opinions spread, societies polarize, and millions of individual decisions produce collective patterns. Can we model these phenomena mathematically? More importantly, can we use those models to predict what happens next? Inspired by the fictional science of psychohistory in Isaac Asimov's Foundation, this reading group explores its real-world counterpart: mathematical sociodynamics. We'll investigate how mathematical models, statistical mechanics, stochastic processes, and dynamical systems can describe and predict collective human behavior. 📖 First reading — Easy Social Force Model for Pedestrian Dynamics — Helbing & Molnár (1995) Host: Grant Getzelman More info: luma.com/z4r92s41 location provided by event source: "Mox, 1680 Mission Street, San Francisco" ―――――――――― SF Stuff To Do