Abstract
Time is a fundamental dimension of social interaction. We present a first study, integrating the analysis of temporal patterns of interaction, interaction preferences, and the local vs. global structure of communication in two organizations over a period of 3 weeks. Our results suggest that simple principles reflecting interaction propensities, time budget, and institutional constraints underlie the distribution of interaction events. As a result, the duration of interactions (as well as the interval between interactions) reveal deep aspects of social systems. Not only does the interaction duration reveal a multiplicity of regimes affecting interaction parameters, but it also offers differentiated windows over different social network structures corresponding to such regimes. We show that institutions never die, as once interrupted communication can be resumed anytime.
We can only preserve our unity by being able to ‘open and close’, to participate in and withdraw from the flow of messages. It therefore becomes vital to find a rhythm of entry and exit that allows each of us to communicate meaningfully without nullifying our inner being. Yet in this alternation between noise and silence we need an inner wholeness that must survive through change
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
Melucci, A., “Inner Time and Social Time in a World of Uncertainty”, Time Society 7, 179 (1998).
References
Powers, D.M.W.: Applications and Explanations of Zipf’s Law, pp. 151–160. Association for Computational Linguistics, Stroudsburg (1998)
Arndt, C.: Information Measures. Information and Its Description in Science and Engineering. Springer Series: Signals and Communication Technology. Springer, Berlin (2004). ISBN 978-3-540-40855-0
Moscovici, S.: L’Age des foules: un traité historique de psychologie des masses. Fayard, Paris (1981); The Age of the Crowd: A Historical Treatise on Mass Psychology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1985)
Cover, T., Thomas, J.: Elements of Information Theory. Wiley, New York (1991). ISBN 0-471-06259-6
Crutchfield, J.P., Young, K.: Inferring statistical complexity. Phys. Rev. Lett. 63, 105–108 (1989)
Volchenkov, D.: Path integral distance for the automated data interpretation. Discontin. Nonlinearity Complex. 3 (3), 255–279 (2014)
Volchenkov, D., Blanchard, P.: Introduction to random walks and diffusions on graphs and databases. In: Springer Series Synergetic, vol. 10. Springer, Berlin (2011). ISBN 978-3-642-19591-4
Volchenkov, D., Blanchard, P.: Intelligibility and first passage times in complex urban networks. Proc. R. Soc. A 464, 2153–2167 (2008). doi:10.1098/rspa.2007.0329
Volchenkov, D., Blanchard, P.: Mathematical Analysis of Urban Spatial Networks. Understanding Complex Systems. Springer, Berlin (2009). ISBN 978-3-540-87828-5
Volchenkov, D.: Markov chain scaffolding of real world data. Discontin. Nonlinearity Complex. 2 (3) 289–299 (2013). doi:10.5890/DNC.2013.08.005
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Volchenkov, D. (2016). We Speak Up for Time, and Time Speaks Up for Us. In: Survival under Uncertainty. Understanding Complex Systems. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39421-3_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39421-3_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-39419-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-39421-3
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)