We are honored to host Prof. Michael Macy. Prof. Macy is theGoldwin Smith Professor of Arts and Sciences and Director of the Social Dynamics Laboratory at Cornell, with a dual appointment in the Departments of Sociology and Information Science.

Prof. Macy's workexplores familiar but enigmatic social patterns, such as circadian rhythms, lifestyle politics, the mesh of civilizations, the emergence and collapse of fads, the spread of self-destructive behaviors, cooperation in social dilemmas, the critical mass in collective action, the spread of complex contagions, the polarization of opinion, segregation of neighborhoods, and assimilation of minority cultures.

Abstract:

In a paper co-authored withDellaPosta and Shi, the authors use a computational model that shows how social influence can amplify trivial differences to produce deep cultural cleavages in which ideological differences become aligned with leisure activities, consumer preferences, esthetic tastes, and ethical and moral choices. In this talk, Prof. Macy will build on that paper by presenting new results that use Twitter co-following and Amazon co-purchase networks to measure the cultural polarization of topics ranging from science to music.

Prof. Macy receivedhis B.A. and Ph.D from Harvard and M.A. from Stanford. His research has been published in leading journals, including Science, PNAS, American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, and Annual Review of Sociology.