CMN 150V: Midterm questions well
answered 100% pass 2025/2026
passed
What is the difference between first and second part of the course? - ANS ✔✔1st looks at static
snapshots of society
2nd looks at changing dynamics
What paradigm underlines "computational science"? - ANS ✔✔the digital revolution
In the late 1980s, how much of all technology stored info was digital and what percentage is it
now? - ANS ✔✔less than 1% -> 99%
What does it mean that the amount of technologically stored info "doubles" every 2-3 years? -
ANS ✔✔each 2-3 years, as much is added to what we have accumulated since the very
beginning
What more is being documented? - ANS ✔✔social reality
Did the dna of all human cells store more or less info than digital tech in 2014? - ANS ✔✔less
What do evolutionary theorists say about the "Major transitions in evolutions"? - ANS ✔✔every
time we (life) came up with a new way of processing info, a major transition happened
,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
The Scientific Method - ANS ✔✔empirical(Darwin)
theoretical(Einstein)
analytical
The 1st wave of scientific advancements focused on... - ANS ✔✔a small number of interrelated
varaibles
T or F? Complexity is modeled with simple averages of small number of interacting variables. -
ANS ✔✔False
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 comfortable to be
modelled with aggregate averages
When doing social science, we study what levels of abstraction? - ANS ✔✔networks of people
and their technology
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
Who does the anteater(a bear like animal) communicate with in this metaphor? - ANS ✔✔an
ant colony called "Aunt Hillary"
What baffled philosophers like Kant and sociologists like Durkheim? - ANS ✔✔how predictable
social patterns emerge from a bunch of individual free will
, 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
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)
All different kinds of social science disciplines are fundamentally interested in what? - ANS
✔✔how society emerges from individual parts
What was the main approach toward science adopted by Charles Darwin? - ANS ✔✔he made
empirical observations and from there developed ideas
What did Albert Einstein do in 1905 and 1915? - ANS ✔✔he developed theory, not based on
empirical observations, but on ideas and 1st principles
How does this relate to the "very short history of science" of 3 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
What is the so-called "digital footprint" or "digital trace"? - ANS ✔✔the digital evidence you
leave behind with a digital interaction
How do you approach science through induction? - ANS ✔✔data->analyses->ideas
Loosely speaking, what term can you use to explain what a hypothesis is? - ANS ✔✔a directed
bet
answered 100% pass 2025/2026
passed
What is the difference between first and second part of the course? - ANS ✔✔1st looks at static
snapshots of society
2nd looks at changing dynamics
What paradigm underlines "computational science"? - ANS ✔✔the digital revolution
In the late 1980s, how much of all technology stored info was digital and what percentage is it
now? - ANS ✔✔less than 1% -> 99%
What does it mean that the amount of technologically stored info "doubles" every 2-3 years? -
ANS ✔✔each 2-3 years, as much is added to what we have accumulated since the very
beginning
What more is being documented? - ANS ✔✔social reality
Did the dna of all human cells store more or less info than digital tech in 2014? - ANS ✔✔less
What do evolutionary theorists say about the "Major transitions in evolutions"? - ANS ✔✔every
time we (life) came up with a new way of processing info, a major transition happened
,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
The Scientific Method - ANS ✔✔empirical(Darwin)
theoretical(Einstein)
analytical
The 1st wave of scientific advancements focused on... - ANS ✔✔a small number of interrelated
varaibles
T or F? Complexity is modeled with simple averages of small number of interacting variables. -
ANS ✔✔False
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 comfortable to be
modelled with aggregate averages
When doing social science, we study what levels of abstraction? - ANS ✔✔networks of people
and their technology
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
Who does the anteater(a bear like animal) communicate with in this metaphor? - ANS ✔✔an
ant colony called "Aunt Hillary"
What baffled philosophers like Kant and sociologists like Durkheim? - ANS ✔✔how predictable
social patterns emerge from a bunch of individual free will
, 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
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)
All different kinds of social science disciplines are fundamentally interested in what? - ANS
✔✔how society emerges from individual parts
What was the main approach toward science adopted by Charles Darwin? - ANS ✔✔he made
empirical observations and from there developed ideas
What did Albert Einstein do in 1905 and 1915? - ANS ✔✔he developed theory, not based on
empirical observations, but on ideas and 1st principles
How does this relate to the "very short history of science" of 3 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
What is the so-called "digital footprint" or "digital trace"? - ANS ✔✔the digital evidence you
leave behind with a digital interaction
How do you approach science through induction? - ANS ✔✔data->analyses->ideas
Loosely speaking, what term can you use to explain what a hypothesis is? - ANS ✔✔a directed
bet
