1. Based on the quote from this chapter, ““revolution doesn’t happen when society adopts new technologies--it happens when society adopts new behaviors,” do you agree or disagree? Cite examples to support your position.

The birth of new technologies does not, itself, bring a revolution. When the movable type was created there was no revolution. When the telephone was created there was no revolution. When the computer, fax machine, internet and cell phones were created and adopted there were no revolutions. Revolutions are not a cause of adopting a new technology, rather they are a result of coordinated behavior changes. In chapter six of Shirky's book, Here Comes Everybody, the idea of forwarding is discussed. Before the internet it was difficult to pass a message in a newspaper on to others because one literally had to cut out a message, copy it, then pass it along. Now information can be passed along with the simple click of a button. When this information gets passed along it can have a resounding impact on what people are talking about, the emotions of people, and even steps of action that people take. All of this, just because of the ability share information quickly, cheaply, and effectively.



2. Look deeper into the concept of a “information cascade.” Can you cite an example of where following the actions of others was a sound idea? Where doing so ended up being a poor choice?

The cascade effect is described in wikipedia as being is a series of secondary extinctions that is triggered by the primary extinction of a key species in an ecosystem. While this definition describes what happens in an ecosystem, there are many similarities between it and an information cascade. When information starts off in one place and gets passed along it can spread and have an effect on many people and possibly organizations. In the case of the priest scandals, passing on information and following the actions of others exposed a very tragic and terrible event that took place in the Catholic Church. Without information cascade, the publicity and the positive action that the church took would never have happened. An example of information cascade being a poor choice was the example of the flash mob that ended up with many people being arrested in the Leipzig protests. While all they were doing was simply smiling at one another, the coordinated effort of all of the people coming together and passing on information to one another scared the government and caused them to act what seems to be very irrationally.