CMN 150V S20 Midterm (1-5)
questions & answers 2025/2026
1-02: What paradigm underlies "computational science"? - ANS ✔✔The digital revolution
1-02: Which is true about the world's info storage capacity? - ANS ✔✔In the late 1980's, < 1% of
all technologically stored info was digital, and now > 99% is digital
1-02: If we would take 5ZB of info and store it in books, how far would the pile reach? - ANS
✔✔Many times from the Earth to the Sun
1-02: What does it mean that the amount of technologically stored information "doubles" every
2-3 years? - ANS ✔✔Each 2-3 years, as much is added to what we have accumulated since the
very beginning
1-02: What changed in the announcement of the papacy from 2005 to 2013? - ANS ✔✔More
people document social reality nowadays
1-02: The DNA of all human cells stored ____ info than digital technology in 2014. - ANS ✔✔less
1-02: What do evolutionary theorists say about the "Major Transitions in Evolution?" - ANS
✔✔Every time we (life) came up with a new way of processing information, a major transition
happened
,1-02: From this social evolutionary perspective, the digital and the biological are merged when:
- ANS ✔✔Society as a whole has become indispensably dependent on digital technology
1-02: What's the difference between his two online courses? - ANS ✔✔The other one is about
how digital tech changes society and this one is about how digital tech changes knowledge
production
1-04: The first wave of scientific advancements focused on: - ANS ✔✔A small number of
interrelated variables
1-04: The second wave of scientific advancements focused on: - ANS ✔✔Averages of many
(rather unknown) variables
1-04: Which of the following statements is NOT true? What we here called problems of: - ANS
✔✔Complexity is modeled with simple averages of a small number of interacting variables
1-04: Why is it limiting to study society with the dominant scientific methods from the 19th and
20th century? - ANS ✔✔Societies contain more than 2-3 variables and are too complex to be
modeled with aggregate averages
1-05: When doing social science, we study what level of abstraction? - ANS ✔✔Networks of
people and their tech
1-05: How and in reference to what did he use the word "emergence"?
(pyramid of sciences) - ANS ✔✔At each of these levels, new rules/laws "emerge" that can be
studied
1-06: Who does the Anteater communicate with in this metaphor?
(referring to social emergence) - ANS ✔✔An ant colony called "Aunt Hillary" (a collective
intelligence "emerging" from many levels (think science pyramid) originally from ants)
, 1-06: What baffled philosophers like Kant and sociologists like Durkheim? - ANS ✔✔How
predictable social patterns emerge from a bunch of individual free will
1-06: What was a main distinction made by both economists like Smith and political scientists
like Rousseau? The distinction between: - ANS ✔✔The intention of the individual and collective
intentions of society
1-06: What did the eminent social scientist Karl Marx mean when he talked about what others
called the "basic metaphysical principle of Dialectics"? - ANS ✔✔More of something
(quantitative difference) can at some point create unexpected emergent phenomena
(qualitative changes)
1-06: All different kinds of "social science" disciplines are fundamentally interested in: - ANS
✔✔How society emerges from individual parts
1-07: What was the main approach toward science adopted by Charles Darwin? - ANS ✔✔He
made empirical observations and from there, developed ideas
1-07: What did Albert Einstein do in 1905 and 1915? - ANS ✔✔He developed theory, not based
on empirical observations, but on ideas and first principles
1-07: How do Einstein and Darwin's methods relate to the "very short history of science" of
three consecutive waves that we had reviewed? - ANS ✔✔Einstein worked on a problem with
few variables (E=mc^2) and Darwin on one with average tendencies of many observations
1-07: What is the so-called "digital footprint" or "digital trace"? - ANS ✔✔The digital evidence
you leave behind with a digital interaction
1-07: How do you approach science through induction? - ANS ✔✔Data => Analysis => Ideas
questions & answers 2025/2026
1-02: What paradigm underlies "computational science"? - ANS ✔✔The digital revolution
1-02: Which is true about the world's info storage capacity? - ANS ✔✔In the late 1980's, < 1% of
all technologically stored info was digital, and now > 99% is digital
1-02: If we would take 5ZB of info and store it in books, how far would the pile reach? - ANS
✔✔Many times from the Earth to the Sun
1-02: What does it mean that the amount of technologically stored information "doubles" every
2-3 years? - ANS ✔✔Each 2-3 years, as much is added to what we have accumulated since the
very beginning
1-02: What changed in the announcement of the papacy from 2005 to 2013? - ANS ✔✔More
people document social reality nowadays
1-02: The DNA of all human cells stored ____ info than digital technology in 2014. - ANS ✔✔less
1-02: What do evolutionary theorists say about the "Major Transitions in Evolution?" - ANS
✔✔Every time we (life) came up with a new way of processing information, a major transition
happened
,1-02: From this social evolutionary perspective, the digital and the biological are merged when:
- ANS ✔✔Society as a whole has become indispensably dependent on digital technology
1-02: What's the difference between his two online courses? - ANS ✔✔The other one is about
how digital tech changes society and this one is about how digital tech changes knowledge
production
1-04: The first wave of scientific advancements focused on: - ANS ✔✔A small number of
interrelated variables
1-04: The second wave of scientific advancements focused on: - ANS ✔✔Averages of many
(rather unknown) variables
1-04: Which of the following statements is NOT true? What we here called problems of: - ANS
✔✔Complexity is modeled with simple averages of a small number of interacting variables
1-04: Why is it limiting to study society with the dominant scientific methods from the 19th and
20th century? - ANS ✔✔Societies contain more than 2-3 variables and are too complex to be
modeled with aggregate averages
1-05: When doing social science, we study what level of abstraction? - ANS ✔✔Networks of
people and their tech
1-05: How and in reference to what did he use the word "emergence"?
(pyramid of sciences) - ANS ✔✔At each of these levels, new rules/laws "emerge" that can be
studied
1-06: Who does the Anteater communicate with in this metaphor?
(referring to social emergence) - ANS ✔✔An ant colony called "Aunt Hillary" (a collective
intelligence "emerging" from many levels (think science pyramid) originally from ants)
, 1-06: What baffled philosophers like Kant and sociologists like Durkheim? - ANS ✔✔How
predictable social patterns emerge from a bunch of individual free will
1-06: What was a main distinction made by both economists like Smith and political scientists
like Rousseau? The distinction between: - ANS ✔✔The intention of the individual and collective
intentions of society
1-06: What did the eminent social scientist Karl Marx mean when he talked about what others
called the "basic metaphysical principle of Dialectics"? - ANS ✔✔More of something
(quantitative difference) can at some point create unexpected emergent phenomena
(qualitative changes)
1-06: All different kinds of "social science" disciplines are fundamentally interested in: - ANS
✔✔How society emerges from individual parts
1-07: What was the main approach toward science adopted by Charles Darwin? - ANS ✔✔He
made empirical observations and from there, developed ideas
1-07: What did Albert Einstein do in 1905 and 1915? - ANS ✔✔He developed theory, not based
on empirical observations, but on ideas and first principles
1-07: How do Einstein and Darwin's methods relate to the "very short history of science" of
three consecutive waves that we had reviewed? - ANS ✔✔Einstein worked on a problem with
few variables (E=mc^2) and Darwin on one with average tendencies of many observations
1-07: What is the so-called "digital footprint" or "digital trace"? - ANS ✔✔The digital evidence
you leave behind with a digital interaction
1-07: How do you approach science through induction? - ANS ✔✔Data => Analysis => Ideas
