Re: Modeling Rumors: The No Plane Pentagon French Hoax Case

From: AaronLynch@aol.com
Date: Fri 06 Dec 2002 - 21:42:01 GMT

  • Next message: Grant Callaghan: "Re: Modeling Rumors: The No Plane Pentagon French Hoax Case"

    In a message dated 12/6/2002 8:42:21 AM Central Standard Time, Mark Mills <mmills@htcomp.net> writes:

    Thanks for posting this, Mark.

    I notice that the text of the article is in the Los Alamos National Laboratory web domain. Los Alamos, of course has been testing an enhanced ideation device. It kills the rumor but leaves the people standing! ... OK, it was JOKE! Only JOKE! Please do no ever report me to the authorities!

    --Aaron Lynch

    > http://www.unifr.ch/econophysics/PHP/formulaire/redirect.php?year=2002&
    > code=cond-mat/0211571&version=abs
    >
    >
    > Modeling Rumors: The No Plane Pentagon French Hoax Case
    >
    > Serge Galam
    >
    >
    > The recent astonishing wide adhesion of french people to the rumor
    claiming
    > `No plane did crash on the Pentagon on September the 11", is given a
    > generic explanation in terms of a model of minority opinion spreading.
    > Using a majority rule reaction-diffusion dynamics, a rumor is shown to
    > invade for sure a social group provided it fulfills simultaneously two
    > criteria. First it must initiate with a support beyond some critical
    > threshold which however, turns out to be always very low. Then it has to
    be
    > consistent with some larger collective social paradigm of the group.
    > Othewise it just dies out. Both conditions were satisfied in the french
    > case with the associated book sold at more than 200 000 copies in just a
    > few days. The rumor was stopped by the firm stand of most newspaper
    editors
    > stating it is nonsense. Such an incredible social dynamics is shown to
    > result naturally from an open and free public debate among friends and
    > colleagues. Each one searching for the truth sincerely on a free will
    basis
    > and without individual biases. The polarization process appears also to be
    > very quick in agreement with reality. It is a very strong anti-democratic
    > reversal of opinion although made quite democratically. The model may
    apply
    > to a large range of rumors.
    >

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