Michele Avalle, Niccolò Di Marco, Gabriele Etta, Emanuele Sangiorgio, Shayan Alipour, Anita Bonetti, Lorenzo Alvisi, Antonio Scala, Andrea Baronchelli, Matteo Cinelli & Walter Quattrociocchi 
Nature (2024)

Growing concern surrounds the impact of social media platforms on public discourse1,2,3,4 and their influence on social dynamics5,6,7,8,9, especially in the context of toxicity10,11,12. Here, to better understand these phenomena, we use a comparative approach to isolate human behavioural patterns across multiple social media platforms. In particular, we analyse conversations in different online communities, focusing on identifying consistent patterns of toxic content. Drawing from an extensive dataset that spans eight platforms over 34 years—from Usenet to contemporary social media—our findings show consistent conversation patterns and user behaviour, irrespective of the platform, topic or time. Notably, although long conversations consistently exhibit higher toxicity, toxic language does not invariably discourage people from participating in a conversation, and toxicity does not necessarily escalate as discussions evolve. Our analysis suggests that debates and contrasting sentiments among users significantly contribute to more intense and hostile discussions. Moreover, the persistence of these patterns across three decades, despite changes in platforms and societal norms, underscores the pivotal role of human behaviour in shaping online discourse.

Read the full article at: www.nature.com

Rafael Prieto-Curiel, Juan P. Ospina

Environment International

Volume 185, March 2024, 108541

The use of cars in cities has many negative impacts, including pollution, noise and the use of space. Yet, detecting factors that reduce the use of cars is a serious challenge, particularly across different regions. Here, we model the use of various modes of transport in a city by aggregating Active mobility (A), Public Transport (B) and Cars (C), expressing the modal share of a city by its ABC triplet. Data for nearly 800 cities across 61 countries is used to model car use and its relationship with city size and income. Our findings suggest that with longer distances and the congestion experienced in large cities, Active mobility and journeys by Car are less frequent, but Public Transport is more prominent. Further, income is strongly related to the use of cars. Results show that a city with twice the income has 37% more journeys by Car. Yet, there are significant differences across regions. For cities in Asia, Public Transport contributes to a substantial share of their journeys. For cities in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, most of their mobility depends on Cars, regardless of city size. In Europe, there are vast heterogeneities in their modal share, from cities with mostly Active mobility (like Utrecht) to cities where Public Transport is crucial (like Paris or London) and cities where more than two out of three of their journeys are by Car (like Rome and Manchester).

Read the full article at: www.sciencedirect.com

Felipe S. Abrahão, Santiago Hernández-Orozco, Narsis A. Kiani, Jesper Tegnér, Hector Zenil

We demonstrate that Assembly Theory, pathway complexity, the assembly index, and the assembly number are subsumed and constitute a weak version of algorithmic (Kolmogorov-Solomonoff-Chaitin) complexity reliant on an approximation method based upon statistical compression, their results obtained due to the use of methods strictly equivalent to the LZ family of compression algorithms used in compressing algorithms such as ZIP, GZIP, or JPEG. Such popular algorithms have been shown to empirically reproduce the results of AT’s assembly index and their use had already been reported in successful application to separating organic from non-organic molecules, and the study of selection and evolution. Here we exhibit and prove the connections and full equivalence of Assembly Theory to Shannon Entropy and statistical compression, and AT’s disconnection as a statistical approach from causality. We demonstrate that formulating a traditional statistically compressed description of molecules, or the theory underlying it, does not imply an explanation or quantification of biases in generative (physical or biological) processes, including those brought about by selection and evolution, when lacking in logical consistency and empirical evidence. We argue that in their basic arguments, the authors of AT conflate how objects may assemble with causal directionality, and conclude that Assembly Theory does nothing to explain selection or evolution beyond known and previously established connections, some of which are reviewed here, based on sounder theory and better experimental evidence.

Read the full article at: arxiv.org

See Also:

Assembly Theory: What It Does and What It Does Not Do

Molecular assembly indices of mineral heteropolyanions: some abiotic molecules are as complex as large biomolecules

Xiao Yang, Réka Albert, Lauren Molloy Elreda, & Nilam Ram

Social influence processes can induce desired or undesired behavior change in individual members of a group. Empirical modeling of group processes and the design of network-based interventions meant to promote desired behavior change is somewhat limited be-cause the models often assume that the social influence is assimilative only and that the networks are not fully connected. We introduce a Boolean network method that addresses these two limitations. In line with dynamical systems principles, temporal changes in group members’ behavior are modeled as a Boolean network that also allows for application of control theory design of group management strategies that might direct the groups to-wards desired behavior. To illustrate the utility of the method for psychology, we apply the Boolean network method to empirical data of individuals’ self-disclosure behavior in multi-week therapy groups (N = 135, 18 groups, T = 10 ∼ 16 weeks). Empirical results provide descrip-tion of each group member’s pattern of self-disclosure and social influence and identification of group-specific network control strategies that would elicit self-disclosure from the majori-ty of the group. Of the 18 group models, 16 included both assimilative and repulsive social in-fluence. Useful control strategies were not needed for 10 already well-functioning groups, were identified for 6 groups, and were not available for 2 groups. The findings illustrate the utility of the Boolean network method for modeling the simultaneous existence of assimila-tive and repulsive social influence processes in small groups, and developing strategies that may direct groups toward desired states without manipulating social ties.

Read the full article at: advances.in