The outcomes of many team-based competitions are determined by the steady accumulation of minor interactions over time. Yet we lack a general understanding of their fundamental dynamics and how those dynamics are shaped by a competition's structure. We introduce a novel generative model that can directly quantify a competition's scoring ...

In this talk, I propose an approach to understanding the foundations of physics by considering the optimal inferences an intelligent agent can make about the universe in which he or she is embedded. Information acts to constrain an agent’s beliefs. However, at a fundamental level, any information is obtained from ...

Historically, when a wildfire, earthquake or hurricane strikes, people seek information from authorities. Today, however, with every disaster event, we learn of new and accelerated ways in which people not only seek information beyond official sources, but also how they produce and share it with neighbors, friends and strangers. Through ...

To what extent—if at all—is cultural evolution governed by “Darwinian” algorithms of natural selection? I have been a champion of the “meme’s eye” perspective on culture for several decades, and encountered huge resistance, most of it hysterical and confused, but with some serious exceptions. Work by Boyd and Richerson, Pagel, ...

Charles Darwin wrote that he wished he had worked harder at mathematics, so as to possess the "extra sense" that he felt mathematicians can bring to understanding the world. The new 45 minute documentary, “Darwin's Extra Sense”, explores how twenty-first century mathematics is bringing an extra sense to the study ...