Without networks, there would be utter chaos; almost every form of technology would be as unstable, unreliable, and just about unusable to society. Our everyday interactions would be disrupted, Anna Nagurney mentions transportation as a type of network, which in itself faces many issues. As we all know, New York City subway lines are infamous when it comes to subway delays due to signal errors- meaning that there is no communication between the network and the actual subway itself. Planes would not be able to take off or land if air traffic control could not track the actual plan with a broken network.  “We have nodes, we have links… We have transportation networks… Manufacturing networks… Communication network… and Energy networks where the flows could be oil, water, electricity, etc..”  Anna Nagurney, The Science-Spanning Disciplines. 

Internet, a major communication network, opens the door to a virtual hub of endless information and communication which would otherwise be inaccessible to the everyday person. If a link is broken, we cannot connect to a specific website. But, when the network is down, the internet is inaccessible- the flow, my router, is disrupted until that specific problem is taken care of by specialists. Albert-Laszlo Barabasi states, “Even those that understand the importance of networks are often driven by the need for quick fixes, expecting solutions overnight.”  Which is true, when the internet is down, we expect it to be back up and running in minutes. When a major website or app is down, specialists are called on to fix the cause of the issue almost instantly. The issue with these networks is that they are not fully secure and they are prone to attacks that disrupt the network, causing them to, lack a better term, ‘go down’. Sometimes those attacks last for hours, sometimes days rendering the flow, (website), useless until the problem is fixed.

How networks can take many forms and functions?

Networks can take many forms and functions because, networks are complex systems. Networks can be made into different iterations because it’s so vast and can be compared in any aspect. Networks, as a whole, is revolved around society in the sense of architecture and economics, in Networks: The Science-Spanning Disciplines by Anna Nagurney, she explains that network tools that can be  used to solve all other types of problems that can have a network infrastructure.  She speaks on how railroad, energy, water and many more types of networks correspond in some way, but can also differ in the way they operate. Science plays a big role in the application of these networks, “Some networks you can  control the flows for instance the freight networks tell trains this the the route you will take from the origin to the destination, but In terms of human driving and so forth individual decision making you cannot control but you can trick them. (24:00-24:30)” The quote stood out to me while I was listening because it was astonishing how close you can relate different types of network to the physical and mental capabilities of any living thing. Taming Complexity by Albert-Laszlo Barabasi was a very informative article, my interpretation of it was that because theirs a vast amount of complex systems the equipment that we have now cannot for the most part breakdown these systems, “When we try to characterize the many complex systems around us, the available tools fail for increasingly obvious reasons. First, most complex systems are not made of identical and undistinguishable components, each gene in a cell or individual in a country has its own characteristic behavior. Second, and more importantly, the components obey neither the extreme disorder of gases, nor the extreme order of magnets (Barabasi).” The factors in understanding different networks can take a lifetime, in a way it can be infinite because the more we delve into solving these networks the more questions we will have to solve and ask. The complexity of it is what I found the most exciting, it’s like an endless void the deeper you go the more you  question everything and have to start from the beginning.

Networks can take many forms and functions in many different ways. As mentioned by Anna Nagurney in “Networks: The Science-Spanning Disciplines” Nagurney mentions railroad networks, transportation networks, energy networks, water networks, and communication networks as many forms of networks that exist. Each and every type of these forms of networks work their own way, they root from science, math, technology and more and because of this we can see how it has helped scientific researches.

As mentioned in the reading “Taming Complexity” by Albert-Laszlo Barabasi, “The closure of this loop, as well as the simultaneous awakening to the importance of networks of a number of fields, has led to an explosion of network research. As discussed in the recent National Research Council (NRC) report on Network Science22, this is not limited to physics, but captures biology, computer science, mathematics and the social sciences.” (Pg.69). This quote shows exactly how useful networks have been in the study of scientific researchers. Aside from the types of networks that exist mentioned by Anna Nagurney, we see in a different way the others that exist that plays a big part in our studies. Overall, I believe we learn the importance of network and how much of an importance it is to our daily lives.

When networks are brought up, one might think of computer networks, like your home networks, which has multiple devices connected to the same router. But there’s obviously different forms of networks. Like Nagurney mentioned in her talk, “Networks: The Science-Spanning Disciplines” (3:25), network science is the study of complex networks, like that of telecom networks, computer networks, natural networks, cognitive and semantic networks and even societal networks. Social networks have a huge impact on how you behave and where you might go in life. If your social network consisted of like-minded individuals who are energetic and carefree, you are likely similar as well. She also mentions networks have existed for thousands of years, dating as far back as the Romans. Nagurney explains how the Romans created a policy to manage their intake of chariots to lessen the congestion of many chariots entering their cities (5:36). A simple policy that restricted the number of chariots passing to and from the Roman Empire from thousands of years ago would carry over to today, where biologists, scientists, mathematicians and more, have dedicated international conferences, workshops and schooling to study network science. As Albert-Laszlo Barabasi states in his publication, “Taming Complexity”, “Network science has shown immediate economic benefits as well. The poster child of early network thinking is Google, whose phenomenal success is rooted in its algorithm that uses the topology of the Web to rank the search results.” The study of networks has evolved from a simple policy to manage chariots to a digital world where server-loads of data can be condensed, ranked and distributed in mere seconds. However, with such positive expectations of networks, it’s important to be aware of the negative aspects and consequences of networks and its study. The formation of a network can often lead to exclusion for those outside of the network. Take social circles as an example, the people in a social group are within the same network with each other. If someone were to try and join this social group, the group might deny them entry and create unwanted exclusivity. Once this exclusivity is born, rumors and presumptions are buried into the minds of others who can’t get into the group. For example, we probably have all assumed those who attended Harvard, MIT or Stanford are extremely smart individuals who might study 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. That’s a presumption! What would happen if a small group of friends were planning a weekend vacation to the Alps and someone suggested on inviting the friend from Harvard? They will likely dismiss his invitation and claim “he’s probably busy studying anyway”. All in all, the study of networks can lead to great things that can simplify our life, but it’s also important to be aware of its unexpected negatives. After all, you should always expect the unexpected.

“Statistical mechanics taught us that intensive, systemsize-independent quantities offer some of the best measures of a system’s internal characteristics.” This quote from the article is interesting to pick at because it is basically saying that with the knowledge of what is already known, an independent quality of something can be used for a system’s own features. 

It was interesting to see how in the article “Taming Complexity”, the importance of a singular molecule or in this case a singular part of an entire network is magnified at a great scale. The article also speaks about how there are some networks that are more liberating to use than on a few others. There is also the discussion on large web based networks like Google and it’s immediate success with millions of people around the world by providing in seconds results for whatever the individuals searching needs. As well as providing networks that use social media for numerous services like dating apps, social media platforms, transportation/eating services and more. It was also interesting to see how for scientists that would want to thoroughly research “ fundamental properties of networks and complex systems” would need to “sell themselves as single-discipline-based players, convincing either the physics community that their research is physics or the biology establishment that network science is all about biology.” as well. 

It was also interesting to hear from Anna Nagurney how communication networks, transportation networks, manufacturing networks, energy networks and more, need to be dealt with to have the qualities of nodes and links to makeup the finished product.

           According to Anna Nagurney and her speech about “Networks – the Science-Spanning Disciplines”, networks can be seen everywhere in our daily lives from economics and business to science, technology and education. A network is considered to be a measurable pattern of connections between different articles in a certain space. A network has three basic components: nodes, links/archs, and flows/flow size. Moreover, a network could be either physical or nonphysical. Networks also provide the infostructure behind many commonalities such as communication, production and transportation. More specifically, when it comes to transportation networks, it can be correlated with energy networks and water networks. The functions of networks, proposed by Nagurney, lies within the following quote; “networks, network tools are not only used to study physical networks, but to study all sorts of problems in which there could be network structure” (Nagurney 2005, 14:21). She goes on to discuss how the latest network tools would allow for the modelling of problems more effectively and then ultimately, enable us to solve those problems more efficiently. Furthermore, the proper usage of such tools would allow for these problems to be presented in a way where everyone and anyone could understand them especially policy makers and management teams. Network methodology’s function can be used to break down the boundaries between different disciplines. For example, when it comes to communication networks within a community, region, or on a global scale, congestion management and energy networks must also be taken into consideration. Typically, when one thinks of communication, one might take technology networks into consideration but not energy networks. Networks, network theories, tools and structures can all be used to solve complex and even “everyday” problems in an abstract and effective way. With the many forms and functions of networks, they are seen and used on a much broader scale than previously thought.

Your first assignment – your response / analysis of the readings on Network Theory is due on the blog here by class time on September 2, 2020.