|
|
Marco Visscher, Ode: What exactly is a burst?ALB: A burst is a sudden escalation in our activity pattern, characterized by an excessive focus on a certain type of task at the exclusion of all other responsibilities. It is like the thunder of drums in a Beethoven masterpiece, punctuated by the pleasing sound of the violins that preceded and follow them. What is a good example of a burst?ALB: We may not even be aware of it, but each day we participate in many small bursts. We originally discovered bursts in the email pattern of individuals. Indeed, if we follow the sequence of emails sent by any person, we will not see a random and uniform stream of messages that most previous theories of human communication predict--we will witness instead short periods of intensive email activity, when the users fire out several, occasionally dozens of emails, followed by long periods of e-science. Soon we started to see similar bursts in all human activities that we could collect data for, from phone calls to the financial transactions of stock brokers; from Wikipedia edits to visits to the library. What surprised us most, however, was that all these bursty patterns followed the same precise mathematical law. We were seeing a peculiar rhythm of life that none of the individuals generating these bursts were aware of. How do bursts occur?ALB: At first it appeared that burst occur randomly but we soon learned that they have a simple origin: prioritizing. Indeed, whether we do it consciously or subconsciously, we prioritize, often many times each day. As I show in Bursts, each time people prioritize their tasks, their behavior becomes bursty. If, however, we let a dice run our life, all signatures of burstiness disappear. Can we predict the next burst (when, what)?ALB: Yes and no. To be sure, our daily activity is far more predictable than we are often comfortable of acknowledging, a major topic of the book. Consequently, we can in principle predict quite a number of things, from our whereabouts to potentially the timing of our email messages. While we know exactly our predictability when it comes to where we are (and it is frighteningly high), we have not yet tried to predict bursts. It may not be impossible. How does the idea of bursts change the way we look at society?ALB: We often think of the society as a smooth machinery with its internal clock, where events proceed more or less seamlessly along their tracks. In reality, most events follow a bursty pattern, which, if understood, will change the way we approach them, and the way we get things done. Bursts is not a self-help book, but I believe that if we understand the patterns behind the rhythm of our daily activity, we are in much better position to be in tune with them and eventually exercise control over them. It has certainly changed they way I deal with the people I work with-- if we are stuck, the most remedy comes through revisiting our priorities, rather than placing blame. Marco Visscher
|
|
Questions & Answers with László Barabási
|
||
