CMN 150V: MIDTERM #1 EXAM 2025/2026
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 100% PASS
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
1 @COPYRIGHT 2025/2026 ALLRIGHTS RESERVED.
,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
2 @COPYRIGHT 2025/2026 ALLRIGHTS RESERVED.
, 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
3 @COPYRIGHT 2025/2026 ALLRIGHTS RESERVED.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 100% PASS
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
1 @COPYRIGHT 2025/2026 ALLRIGHTS RESERVED.
,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
2 @COPYRIGHT 2025/2026 ALLRIGHTS RESERVED.
, 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
3 @COPYRIGHT 2025/2026 ALLRIGHTS RESERVED.
