A Deadly Cascade
Often, the world around us is more complex than we know. Of necessity, the models we build to explain the world simplify things by omitting many details. These omissions explain why experts are so often wrong. They also underlies serendipity, an important
- PDF / 3,576,091 Bytes
- 270 Pages / 439.37 x 666.142 pts Page_size
- 93 Downloads / 164 Views
Of Ants and Men
David G. Green
Of Ants and Men The Unexpected Side Effects of Complexity in Society
123
Copernicus Books is a brand of Springer
David G. Green Faculty of Information Technology Monash University Clayton, VIC Australia
ISBN 978-3-642-55229-8 DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-55230-4
ISBN 978-3-642-55230-4
(eBook)
Springer Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London Library of Congress Control Number: 2014937524 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publishers, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. Exempted from this legal reservation are brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis or material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the Copyright Law of the Publishers’ location, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Permissions for use may be obtained through RightsLink at the Copyright Clearance Center. Violations are liable to prosecution under the respective Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein. Printed on acid-free paper Copernicus Books is a brand of Springer Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) Copernicus Books Springer Science+Business Media 233 Spring Street New York, NY 10013 www.springer.com
Preface
This book arose out of a previous book, The Serendipity Machine, in which I explored the many ways in which modern computing exploits unexpected discovery. The final chapter of that book briefly explored the ways in which the information revolution was itself leading society into unexpected ‘‘discoveries’’ about new ways of working and living. In the course of writing the book, it became evident that the unexpected consequences of using computers were symptomatic of a much wider set of processes at work in society. Exploring and developing this insight led directly to this book. Before I am attacked for sexism,
Data Loading...
