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Human dynamics refer to a branch of
complex systems A complex system is a system composed of many components that may interact with one another. Examples of complex systems are Earth's global climate, organisms, the human brain, infrastructure such as power grid, transportation or communication s ...
research in
statistical physics In physics, statistical mechanics is a mathematical framework that applies statistical methods and probability theory to large assemblies of microscopic entities. Sometimes called statistical physics or statistical thermodynamics, its applicati ...
such as the movement of crowds and queues and other systems of complex human interactions including
statistical model A statistical model is a mathematical model that embodies a set of statistical assumptions concerning the generation of Sample (statistics), sample data (and similar data from a larger Statistical population, population). A statistical model repre ...
ling of human networks, including interactions over communications networks.


Academic research

Human Dynamics as a branch of statistical physics: Its main goal is to understand human behavior using methods originally developed in statistical physics. Research in this area started to gain momentum in 2005 after the publication of A.-L. Barabási's seminal paper ''The origin of bursts and heavy tails in human dynamics.'' that introduced a queuing model that was alleged to be capable of explaining the long tailed distribution of inter event times that naturally occur in human activity. This paper spurred a burst of activity in this new area leading to not only further theoretical development of the Barabasi model, its experimental verification in several different activities and the beginning of interest in using proxy tools, such as web server logs., cell phone records and even the rate at which registration to a major international conference occurs and the distance and rate people around the globe commute from home to work. In recent years there has been a growing appetite for access to new data sources that might prove useful in quantifying and understanding human behavior both at the individual and collective scales.


Other usage

The term ''Human Dynamics'' or ''Human Dynamics as Personality Dynamics'' has also been used to describe a framework for understanding people and is applied in a technique aimed at education and team building. It is pioneered by Sandra Seagal and David Horne. It is a study of the ways in which we process information related to the balance of Physical, Emotional, and Mental components of our experiences. It has been subject to some skepticism, having been described in a Dutch newspaper as a personality course with esoteric (occult) roots.


See also

Sense Networks


References


External links


Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Understanding Human Dynamics


Complex systems theory Population dynamics {{statistics-stub