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Network Structures in Biological Systems and in Human Societyучебный курс
- Автор: Олескин А.В.
- Год создания: 2015
- Организация: МГУ имени М.В. Ломоносова
- Курс на иностранном языке
- Описание: This course of lectures is primarily intended for students specializing in biology, sociology, political science, and philosophy. The lectures focuse on network structures in biological systems and in human society. The term “network structure” is used in the literature in at least two different meanings. The broader meaning (denoted by this author as a network sensu lato) refers to any system composed of nodes (vertices) connected by links (edges). In terms of this interpretation, the analytical tools that deal with centrality measures, clustering, and community structure-related criteria, small-world behavior, and other network characteristics have provided important insights into the organization and functioning of various objects, including biological systems and human society. However, there is a narrower interpretation of the term “network” that is predominantly used in the social sciences: a network structure is a decentralized, non-hierarchical system that is regulated by cooperative interactions among its nodes (a network sensu stricto). An example can be found in the Internet, which is largely based on this principle. In this course, the term “networks” is mainly interpreted in the latter sense. The characteristics of a network’s organizational situation are considered in this course of lectures in comparison to other types of structures that are denoted as (1) hierarchical (vertical, pyramidal) structures characterized by a single dominant activity center (central leader, pacemaker); and (2) (quasi-)market structures dominated by competitive, rather than cooperative, interactions among the actors involved. This is an interdisciplinary course of lectures because the three organizational structures are considered with respect to biological systems and to human society, including its political system. In the lectures, much emphasis is placed on interconversions and interactions between structures of different types. Disharmonious interactions between these structures pose the threat of the destruction of the system(s) involved. As far as human society is concerned, this issue is not merely of theoretical interest; recent history provides important examples that demonstrate the economic, social, and political consequences of the hierarchy–network–market imbalance. The course also demonstrates that network structures, as well as hierarchies and quasi-markets, are widely spread in various forms of life, ranging from unicellular organisms to Homo sapiens. Decentralized network structures enable efficient behavioral coordination in the biosocial systems (groups, colonies, families, communities) of individuals belonging to diverse taxa. These network structures can be subdivided into several different organizational subtypes. In this book, they are exemplified by the cellular (“microbial”), modular (“cnidarian”), equipotential (“shoal”), eusocial (“ant”), neural, and egalitarian (“ape”) paradigm. Different paradigms actually represent different vantage points from which researchers consider relevant biosocial systems of animals. All of these paradigms are necessarily anthropomorphic to some extent, i.e., they liken animals to humans.
- Добавил в систему: Олескин Александр Владимирович