The Rules of Contagion: Why Things Spread - and Why They Stop, Adam Kucharski (4.0)
This book contained lots of good information of various contagious activity – from viruses to information – and reasons to be worried and not so worried. A key finding was that social media alone does not spread misinformation, it’s when the lie gets picked up by the media (i.e. ‘information laundering’), that it gets credibility and spreads more widely. Interestingly thosen with influence are not typically those who are highly susceptible to misguided theories. Also, online outbreaks are weak compared to biological ones which have a farther reach and higher probability of spreading. Which, of course was foreshadowing to our COVID situation. I was most amazed at how prescient the author was about pandemics, given this was published just prior to our recent one. My favorite comment: ‘a one-man riot is a tantrum’.
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