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Saving Human Lives: What Complexity Science and Information Systems can Contribute

Helbing, Dirk ; Brockmann, Dirk ; Chadefaux, Thomas ; Donnay, Karsten ; Blanke, Ulf ; Woolley-Meza, Olivia ; Moussaid, Mehdi ; Johansson, Anders ; Krause, Jens ; Schutte, Sebastian ; Perc, Matjaž

In: Journal of Statistical Physics, 2015, vol. 158, no. 3, p. 735-781

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    Title
    • Saving Human Lives: What Complexity Science and Information Systems can Contribute
    Author
    • Helbing, Dirk. ETH Zurich, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland
    • Brockmann, Dirk. Robert Koch-Institute, 13353, Berlin, Germany
    • Chadefaux, Thomas. ETH Zurich, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland
    • Donnay, Karsten. ETH Zurich, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland
    • Blanke, Ulf. Wearable Computing Laboratory, ETH Zurich, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland
    • Woolley-Meza, Olivia. ETH Zurich, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland
    • Moussaid, Mehdi. Center for Adaptive Rationality (ARC), Max Planck Institute for Human Development, 14195, Berlin, Germany
    • Johansson, Anders. Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, University College London, W1T 4TJ, London, UK
    • Krause, Jens. Department of Biology and Ecology of Fishes, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, 12587, Berlin, Germany
    • Schutte, Sebastian. Center for Comparative and International Studies, ETH Zurich, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland
    • Perc, Matjaž. Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Maribor, 2000, Maribor, Slovenia
    Document Type
    • Postprint
    Language
    • English
    Published in
    • Journal of Statistical Physics, 2015, vol. 158, no. 3, p. 735-781. Springer US; http://www.springer-ny.com
    Other Version
    OAI-PMH Identifier
    • oai:doc.rero.ch:332802
    Summary
    We discuss models and data of crowd disasters, crime, terrorism, war and disease spreading to show that conventional recipes, such as deterrence strategies, are often not effective and sufficient to contain them. Many common approaches do not provide a good picture of the actual system behavior, because they neglect feedback loops, instabilities and cascade effects. The complex and often counter-intuitive behavior of social systems and their macro-level collective dynamics can be better understood by means of complexity science. We highlight that a suitable system design and management can help to stop undesirable cascade effects and to enable favorable kinds of self-organization in the system. In such a way, complexity science can help to save human lives.