Small-World Networks
Networks that are highly clustered locally yet reachable globally in very few steps.
Why it matters now
A handful of long-range links collapses distance. This is why a practice invented in one village can reach another continent within a season, and equally why a pathogen or a pest can. The design question for the Anthropocene is which long links to strengthen for knowledge and which to filter for risk.
Where this is happening on Earth
- North AmericaDuncan Watts and Steven Strogatz, Cornell UniversityShowed that rewiring a small fraction of links turns a clustered lattice into a small world.
- AsiaRice knowledge networks across the Mekong basinLocal farmer clusters linked by a few travelling researchers and traders spread techniques quickly.
- EuropeErasmus and research mobility across the continentA modest number of moving researchers binds otherwise separate national scientific communities.
- AfricaMobile phone diffusion across West African trading networksDense local clusters joined by long trade routes carried both payments and price information.
- OceaniaPolynesian voyaging routes across the PacificSparse long-distance links across enormous distance connected otherwise isolated island clusters for centuries.
The idea itself
The encyclopedia entry first, then live searches at journals and magazines that keep returning current work on this specific idea.
Current reporting from around the world
Standing feeds at reputable periodicals. These stay fresh on their own, which is why they are here instead of a list of articles that would be out of date within a season.