Special Episode
Coronavirus: An Analysis Using Complex Dynamic Systems Theory | Yaneer Bar-Yam
Special Episode
Yaneer Bar-Yam
Coronavirus: An Analysis Using Complex Dynamic Systems Theory | Yaneer Bar-Yam
summary
In this Special Episode of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Yaneer Bar-Yam, President of the New England Complex Systems Institute. Professor Bar-Yam studies the unified properties of complex systems as a systematic strategy for answering basic questions about the world. His research is focused both on formalizing complex systems concepts and relating them to everyday problems. In particular, he studies the relationship between observations at different scales, formal properties of descriptions of systems, the relationship of structure and function, the representation of information as a physical quantity, and quantitative properties of the complexity of real systems. Applications have been to physical, biological, and social systems.
He has applied this background to COVID-19 by not only studying the virus, but by actually launching endCoronavirus.org, a website built and maintained by NESCI whose “goal is to minimize the impact of COVID-19 by providing useful data and guidelines for action.” Yaneer and his colleagues have put out more alarming numbers than those often cited by public officials in recent weeks and months. According to Yaneer’s research team, which has co-faculty, students and affiliates from MIT, Harvard, Brandeis and other universities, “COVID-19 is a rapidly transmitting disease that evolves in 20% of cases to require extended hospitalizations and roughly 2-4% of cases result in death, with risks increasing rapidly for those over 50 years old. It can transmit even with mild symptoms (coughing, sneezing, or elevated temperature) and perhaps before symptoms appear.” He believes that reducing the likelihood of transmission requires everyone to reduce their likelihood of contact not only so they aren’t infected but also so that they don’t transmit the disease to others. If everyone got tested for COVID-19, according to Yaneer, we could temporarily separate the infected from the uninfected, and this would help reduce the spread of the virus and allow for societies to function normally.
If you are interested in becoming a supporter of Hidden Forces, head over to our Patreon Page and subscribe to one of our three content tiers. All subscribers also gain access to our overtime feed, which can be easily added to your favorite podcast application.
Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas
Editor & Engineer: Stylianos Nicolaou
Subscribe & Support the Podcast at http://patreon.com/hiddenforces
Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @hiddenforcespod
bio
Yaneer Bar-Yam was born in Boston, Massachusetts to a Jewish family in 1959. He received his B.S. degree in 1978 and his Ph.D. degree in 1984, both in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was a Bantrell Postdoctoral Fellow, and a joint postdoctoral fellow at MIT and IBM. In 1991, after a junior faculty appointment at the Weizmann Institute, he became an Associate Professor of Engineering at Boston University. He left Boston University in 1997 to become president of the New England Complex Systems Institute. He is also an Associate of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University. He is chairman of the International Conference on Complex Systems and managing editor of InterJournal.
transcript
content locked
or Subscribe to Access Premium Content
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Quae cum magnifice primo dici viderentur, considerata minus probabantur. Sic vester sapiens magno aliquo emolumento commotus cicuta, si opus erit, dimicabit. Videsne quam sit magna dissensio? Non enim quaero quid verum, sed quid cuique dicendum sit. Callipho ad virtutem nihil adiunxit nisi voluptatem, Diodorus vacuitatem doloris. Est, ut dicis, inquam.
Nam si amitti vita beata potest, beata esse non potest. Age sane, inquam. Sed quoniam et advesperascit et mihi ad villam revertendum est, nunc quidem hactenus; Quid turpius quam sapientis vitam ex insipientium sermone pendere? Qui-vere falsone, quaerere mittimus-dicitur oculis se privasse;
Inde igitur, inquit, ordiendum est. Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Maximus dolor, inquit, brevis est. Quod non faceret, si in voluptate summum bonum poneret. Miserum hominem! Si dolor summum malum est, dici aliter non potest. Qua ex cognitione facilior facta est investigatio rerum occultissimarum. Idem adhuc; Hoc loco tenere se Triarius non potuit. Atque ab his initiis profecti omnium virtutum et originem et progressionem persecuti sunt.
Aliter enim explicari, quod quaeritur, non potest. Quae similitudo in genere etiam humano apparet. Quid enim possumus hoc agere divinius? Hoc Hieronymus summum bonum esse dixit.
Full Episode
content locked
or Subscribe to Access Premium Content
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. A mene tu? Itaque fecimus. Quamvis enim depravatae non sint, pravae tamen esse possunt. Cur iustitia laudatur? Terram, mihi crede, ea lanx et maria deprimet. Quae duo sunt, unum facit.
Quantam rem agas, ut Circeis qui habitet totum hunc mundum suum municipium esse existimet? Quid est igitur, inquit, quod requiras? Egone quaeris, inquit, quid sentiam? Graecum enim hunc versum nostis omnes-: Suavis laborum est praeteritorum memoria. Et ille ridens: Video, inquit, quid agas; Quae quidem vel cum periculo est quaerenda vobis; Nondum autem explanatum satis, erat, quid maxime natura vellet.
Videsne quam sit magna dissensio? Hoc est non modo cor non habere, sed ne palatum quidem. Verum hoc idem saepe faciamus. Nihil opus est exemplis hoc facere longius. Facillimum id quidem est, inquam. His singulis copiose responderi solet, sed quae perspicua sunt longa esse non debent.
Duo Reges: constructio interrete. At ille non pertimuit saneque fidenter: Istis quidem ipsis verbis, inquit; Qui enim existimabit posse se miserum esse beatus non erit. Nam memini etiam quae nolo, oblivisci non possum quae volo. Sed ne, dum huic obsequor, vobis molestus sim. Certe non potest.
intelligence report
content locked
or Subscribe to Access Premium Content
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Quia dolori non voluptas contraria est, sed doloris privatio. Audax negotium, dicerem impudens, nisi hoc institutum postea translatum ad philosophos nostros esset. Quod ea non occurrentia fingunt, vincunt Aristonem; Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Quis non odit sordidos, vanos, leves, futtiles? Cum audissem Antiochum, Brute, ut solebam, cum M.
Collige omnia, quae soletis: Praesidium amicorum. Hoc etsi multimodis reprehendi potest, tamen accipio, quod dant. Dici enim nihil potest verius. Satis est ad hoc responsum. Nam et complectitur verbis, quod vult, et dicit plane, quod intellegam; Si sapiens, ne tum quidem miser, cum ab Oroete, praetore Darei, in crucem actus est.
Minime vero istorum quidem, inquit. Hoc loco tenere se Triarius non potuit. Quamvis enim depravatae non sint, pravae tamen esse possunt. Graecum enim hunc versum nostis omnes-: Suavis laborum est praeteritorum memoria.
Sed erat aequius Triarium aliquid de dissensione nostra iudicare. Progredientibus autem aetatibus sensim tardeve potius quasi nosmet ipsos cognoscimus. Tu enim ista lenius, hic Stoicorum more nos vexat. Si ad corpus pertinentibus, rationes tuas te video compensare cum istis doloribus, non memoriam corpore perceptarum voluptatum; Ne tum quidem te respicies et cogitabis sibi quemque natum esse et suis voluptatibus? Ita nemo beato beatior. Beatus autem esse in maximarum rerum timore nemo potest. Nullus est igitur cuiusquam dies natalis. An vero displicuit ea, quae tributa est animi virtutibus tanta praestantia? Hoc dixerit potius Ennius: Nimium boni est, cui nihil est mali.
related episodes
Video
content locked
or Subscribe to Access Premium Content
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ex rebus enim timiditas, non ex vocabulis nascitur. Bonum integritas corporis: misera debilitas. Quamquam te quidem video minime esse deterritum. Negat esse eam, inquit, propter se expetendam.
Expectoque quid ad id, quod quaerebam, respondeas. Quid, si etiam iucunda memoria est praeteritorum malorum? Quid autem habent admirationis, cum prope accesseris? Quae in controversiam veniunt, de iis, si placet, disseramus. Modo etiam paulum ad dexteram de via declinavi, ut ad Pericli sepulcrum accederem. Illud mihi a te nimium festinanter dictum videtur, sapientis omnis esse semper beatos; Hanc ergo intuens debet institutum illud quasi signum absolvere. Si quicquam extra virtutem habeatur in bonis.
Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Restinguet citius, si ardentem acceperit. Ratio quidem vestra sic cogit. Cenasti in vita numquam bene, cum omnia in ista Consumis squilla atque acupensere cum decimano. Sed quid attinet de rebus tam apertis plura requirere? Utilitatis causa amicitia est quaesita. Quae hic rei publicae vulnera inponebat, eadem ille sanabat. Cur deinde Metrodori liberos commendas? Potius ergo illa dicantur: turpe esse, viri non esse debilitari dolore, frangi, succumbere. Nam ante Aristippus, et ille melius.
Ergo omni animali illud, quod appetiti positum est in eo, quod naturae est accommodatum. Quod autem satis est, eo quicquid accessit, nimium est; Quid est enim aliud esse versutum? Etenim nec iustitia nec amicitia esse omnino poterunt, nisi ipsae per se expetuntur. Idemne potest esse dies saepius, qui semel fuit? Ita prorsus, inquam; Non autem hoc: igitur ne illud quidem. Ita relinquet duas, de quibus etiam atque etiam consideret.