CMN 150V - 1 TO 5 EXAM QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS GRADED A+ 2025/2026
UCCSS 1-02: so what did he just rattle down? - ANS In the late 1980s, less than 1% of all
technologically stored information was digital, and now more than 99%
UCCSS 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
UCCSS 1-02: What changed? - ANS More people document social reality nowadays
UCCSS 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
UCCSS 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
UCCSS 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
UCCSS 1-04: The first wave of scientific advancements focused on : - ANS A small number of
interrelated variables
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,UCCSS 1-04: The second wave of scientific advancements focused on: - ANS average of many
(rather unknown) variables
UCCSS 1-04: Which of the following statements is NOT true? What we here called problems of: -
ANS complexity of modelled with simple averages of a small number of interacting variables
UCCSS 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 modelled with aggregate averages
UCCSS 1-05: When doing social science, we study what level of abstraction? - ANS Networks
of people and their tech
UCCSS 1-05: How and in reference to what did he use the word "emergence"? - ANS At each
of these levels, new rules/laws "emerge" that can be studied
UCCSS 1-06: Who does the Anteater (a bear-like animal) communicate with in this metaphor? -
ANS An ant colony called "Aunt Hillary"
UCCSS 1-06: What baffled philosophers like Kant, and sociologists like Durkheim? - ANS How
predictable social patterns emerge from a bunch of individual free will
UCCSS 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
UCCSS 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)
UCCSS 1-06:All different kinds of "social science" disciplines are fundamentally interested in
what? - ANS How society emerges from individual parts
2 @COPYRIGHT 2026 ALLRIGHTS RESERVED.
, UCCSS 1-07: What was the main approach toward science adopted by Charles Darwin? -
ANS He made empirical observations and from there, developed ideas
UCCSS 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
UCCSS 1-07: How does this relate to the "very short history of science" of three consecutive
waves that we had reviewed? - ANS Einstein worked on a problem with few varaibles
(E=mc^2) and Darwin on one with average tendencies of many observations
UCCSS 1-07: What is the so-called "digital footprint" or "digital trace"? - ANS The digital
evidence you leave behind with a digital interaction
UCCSS 1-07: How do you approach science through induction? - ANS Data=> Analysis =>
Ideas
UCCSS 1-07: Loosely speaking, what term can you use to explain what a hypothesis is? -
ANS a directed bet
UCCSS 1-07: The method that Albert Einstein spearheaded in the work on relativity by going
from mathematical theories over hypothesis toward observable phenomena is called: -
ANS Deduction
UCCSS 1-08: What was NOT the takeaway from this anecdote? - ANS It's very helpful for
couples to whack each other with rubber bats to express their resentments
UCCSS 1-09: With tongue-in-cheek ('jokingly'), the unconventional name of 'glass of red wine
theorizing' is used here to characterize a very common way to deduce hypotheses in the social
sciences. Which one? - ANS Examine the logical interrelationships among some collection of
verbal statements or thoughts
3 @COPYRIGHT 2026 ALLRIGHTS RESERVED.
AND ANSWERS GRADED A+ 2025/2026
UCCSS 1-02: so what did he just rattle down? - ANS In the late 1980s, less than 1% of all
technologically stored information was digital, and now more than 99%
UCCSS 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
UCCSS 1-02: What changed? - ANS More people document social reality nowadays
UCCSS 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
UCCSS 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
UCCSS 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
UCCSS 1-04: The first wave of scientific advancements focused on : - ANS A small number of
interrelated variables
1 @COPYRIGHT 2026 ALLRIGHTS RESERVED.
,UCCSS 1-04: The second wave of scientific advancements focused on: - ANS average of many
(rather unknown) variables
UCCSS 1-04: Which of the following statements is NOT true? What we here called problems of: -
ANS complexity of modelled with simple averages of a small number of interacting variables
UCCSS 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 modelled with aggregate averages
UCCSS 1-05: When doing social science, we study what level of abstraction? - ANS Networks
of people and their tech
UCCSS 1-05: How and in reference to what did he use the word "emergence"? - ANS At each
of these levels, new rules/laws "emerge" that can be studied
UCCSS 1-06: Who does the Anteater (a bear-like animal) communicate with in this metaphor? -
ANS An ant colony called "Aunt Hillary"
UCCSS 1-06: What baffled philosophers like Kant, and sociologists like Durkheim? - ANS How
predictable social patterns emerge from a bunch of individual free will
UCCSS 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
UCCSS 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)
UCCSS 1-06:All different kinds of "social science" disciplines are fundamentally interested in
what? - ANS How society emerges from individual parts
2 @COPYRIGHT 2026 ALLRIGHTS RESERVED.
, UCCSS 1-07: What was the main approach toward science adopted by Charles Darwin? -
ANS He made empirical observations and from there, developed ideas
UCCSS 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
UCCSS 1-07: How does this relate to the "very short history of science" of three consecutive
waves that we had reviewed? - ANS Einstein worked on a problem with few varaibles
(E=mc^2) and Darwin on one with average tendencies of many observations
UCCSS 1-07: What is the so-called "digital footprint" or "digital trace"? - ANS The digital
evidence you leave behind with a digital interaction
UCCSS 1-07: How do you approach science through induction? - ANS Data=> Analysis =>
Ideas
UCCSS 1-07: Loosely speaking, what term can you use to explain what a hypothesis is? -
ANS a directed bet
UCCSS 1-07: The method that Albert Einstein spearheaded in the work on relativity by going
from mathematical theories over hypothesis toward observable phenomena is called: -
ANS Deduction
UCCSS 1-08: What was NOT the takeaway from this anecdote? - ANS It's very helpful for
couples to whack each other with rubber bats to express their resentments
UCCSS 1-09: With tongue-in-cheek ('jokingly'), the unconventional name of 'glass of red wine
theorizing' is used here to characterize a very common way to deduce hypotheses in the social
sciences. Which one? - ANS Examine the logical interrelationships among some collection of
verbal statements or thoughts
3 @COPYRIGHT 2026 ALLRIGHTS RESERVED.