How Science Predicts Emergence in Humans & Animals!

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CHAPTERS
0:00 Human group behavior is not complex
1:11 Magellan documentary on birds
2:13 Crowds are predictable but individuals are not
3:36 Kinetic theory of gases, statistical mechanics
4:20 Statistical physics applied to crowds
8:06 Kinetic theory applied to road traffic
9:50 Emergent behavior in animals
12:10 What this tells us about how the universe works?

CREDITS AND REFERENCES
Warner Bros., Batman Returns (1992)
Walt Disney, The Lion King (1994)
Lior Patel (Sheep drone footage)
Magellan TV
NASA.gov
University of Sydney (Leroy Henderson)
Paper: "Self-Organization Phenomena in Pedestrian Crowds, Helbing and Molnar, 1997"
Craig Reynolds

SUMMARY
Group human behavior can be largely explained by physics. In fact, crowds, traffic and pedestrian behavior can be modeled using using principle from physics.

Everyone in a crowd has their own thoughts and plans and problems – but they don’t seem to make much of a difference to what the whole crowd does together.

If we track a single particle, it seems to move around at random. We can’t really predict what it will do at some point in the future. But if we zoom out and look at trillions of particles, then we can identify simple laws, and use them to make accurate predictions.

To go from individual particles to the properties of a whole cloud of gas, we need to consider averages. It doesn’t really matter what each particle does on its own; only what they do on average.

This approach is called the kinetic theory of gases, and was developed by James Clerk Maxwell and Ludwig Boltzmann. It evolved into the science called "statistical mechanics," or "statistical physics."

In 1971, Leroy Henderson at the University of Sydney, developed a model showing how the theory of gases might be applied to human crowds. He found crowds undergo phase transitions too.

In the 1980s physicist Dirk Helbing at the University of Göttingen in Germany developed a sophisticated theory of how pedestrians and crowds move. Two people, like two particles, also avoid each other when coming in close contact, as if there is a force between them, even though no such force exists.

He found that people organized themselves spontaneously into counter-flowing streams, in which some followed behind others in a line. People acted like mindless particles. Physicists call this "collective behavior."

In other words, what looks like intelligent behavior emerges from a model in which the simulated people – called agents – have no intelligence whatsoever.

These simulations show the phenomenon called "emergence," where some behavior emerges in a complex system of many interacting components. Classic phase transitions like freezing and evaporating are also examples of emergence.

These same models can be applied to traffic. Cars slow down if necessary to avoid colliding with the car in front, as if there’s a repulsive force between them. These traffic models can produce amazingly complex behavior.

If the traffic is very light, vehicles move at will, like a kind of traffic gas. But above a certain threshold in traffic density, there’s a switch to traffic liquid, where everyone keeps moving quite smoothly even through the flow is quite dense. If the density increases, there’s another transition: to a traffic solid. This is a traffic jam.

Emergent behavior happens in groups of animals, like the flocking of birds called a murmuration, and the schooling of fish. This behavior used to be such a mystery that in the early twentieth century some zoologists thought that birds have telepathy. But agent-based models showed that's not the case.

In 1987, computer engineer Craig Reynolds mimicked the murmurations of blackbirds in a computer program in which agent-like particles move around according to simple rules. he these agents “boids”. The rules for the boids were that each would try to match its speed to the average of all those within a rang, they would move towards the centre of that local group, and that they would change direction to avoid collisions. These simulations were so realistic , that they're used in movies today.

This tells us something deep about the way the universe works. The most fundamental physics is that which deals not with fundamental particles but with objects interacting.
#groupbehavior
#emergence
And this statistical physics is renormalizable, meaning that we can keep bundling together groups of objects into bigger ones – atoms and molecules into cells, cells into people, people into crowds and societies, and all these behaviors can be predicted.

[rauldurand]

Plot twist: Particles are actual beings doing particle businesses and they will get offended if they are told they behave randomly.

[clearcutter]

The most annoying thing is when particles in the left lane have some kind of repulsive force keeping them from passing the particles on the right even though the lane in front of them is clear. Slower particles need to keep to the right.

[cosmoslogic]

Arvin Ash is still at the top of the list of physics he puts a huge smile on my face

[brothermine]

We can be approximated as spheres, like cows are.
Hari Seldon, the great psychohistorian in Asimov's "Foundation" novel, had a much more thorough theory that treated human society as a highly predictable collection of particles. [Edited to correct the spelling of Hari.]

[jamesT]

Watching Arvin is a feast...loads of excitement and mind boggling topics..❤

[mylifemyrule]

This was so good.

Please make some more videos on statistical physics. How it can be used to explain more complex historical, social and economic phenomena. You can make an attempt to explain how the the agent based model can help solving the non deterministic nature of fair value or the apparently randome interaction between market forces that detarmine and give birth to equilibria instead of determining a single state of equilibrium of price in a free market economy. Lee Somlin once said it was possible only in a restricted market to achieve the single state of equilibrium. He said it was not possible yet for the economists to create such a formula as the physicists, that can articulate a general rule or law. Can these findings of statistical physics be applied to other fields like history, human behaviour and human psychology, economics, chemistry or biolgy?

One more video regarding this topic is the need of the hour.

[rlstine]

This is one of the most well argumented video on the emergence principle that I have ever seen. Thank you Arvin and team.

[ryantennyson]

Thank you Mr Ash. Your contribution is always welcome. My town Hebden Bridge, is going to be gridlocked for days due to resurfacing road works. It's a main road thruogh Calderdale. I'm going to observe group behavior in real time by walking walking to and from my job.

[mikefixac]

I've had this happen so often that it's expected: When I'm jogging and I come upon someone walking in the same direction I'm going, even though I'm going around them, they'll move in my path. And they don't even know I'm behind them. And sometimes I'll change my path and they again move to block my path. It's happened so many times that it's uncanny.

[toastedsniper]

Your channel is my favorite on youtube, thanks for the awesome videos!

[mattiasselin]

Very cool! Studying "emergence" seems like a "mirror theory" of reductionism.

[kosc]

It's just like nature keeps replicating itself on a larger scales, makes me wonder how far it goes.

[thedevereauxbunch]

One of the most interesting videos I’ve watched recently. Love learning. Thank you science. Thank you those responsible for science. Thank you Arvin Ash

[stefaniasmanio]

Absolutely fantastic!! 🤩 Amazing!! Wonderful!! No words to describe it!! ❤❤❤❤❤❤ Can't put here the right number on thumb ups!!! 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 Thank you so much!!

[jamesmckenzie]

Comparing aspects of quantum mechanics and relativity with everyday life and inventing analogies to better understand both is something I find myself doing often. I'm not sure of how useful it really is in my own case, but this was interesting and kind of fun too. Thanks.

[TM-yniu]

Again, this is a wonderful, intriguing, and informative video. While my science background is limited, I comprehend the intent and subject matter presented without challenge, but research based on upon it. I should say the beauty in simplicity that seems to define the beauty in our world is refreshing. I should also add I understand the simplicity in the negative way. They both coexist, but I act on the negative and dwell on the beauty. Thanks for the video!...Again

[steviejd]

Dear Arvin, you are an amazing you for leanding us your sparkling intelect that we might further our undersanding of this beautiful world: truly standing on the shoulders of giants.

[abhishekc]

Another beautiful video explaining a complex topic in a simpler way.

[byamboy]

So, awesome! Nothing in this universe is disconnected, everything is related to everything in every level and all levels are connected between one another. I love to belong to a group of people that can marvel at your videos! Thank you!

[sovsen]

For further reading, I can recommend the book Classical Econophysics. It deals with topics such as how certain, pretty unequal, income distributions also arise from actors exchanging goods on a market - and how that inequality statistically increases rather dramatically if you allow a small group of the actors/particles to get their income from simply owning property. Quite an eye opener I’d say.