- Thursday, October 25, 2018
- 3:40 PM–4:30 PM
- North Hall 276
Todd Kapitula, Calvin College
An interesting problem in social dynamics is how an idea spreads through a large group of people. We consider this problem when the group contains two personality types: congregators, who tend to want to agree with their neighbors, and contrarians, who tend to want to argue and disagree with their neighbors. A mathematical model is provided by a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations. The system is analyzed both analytically and numerically, and conclusions are provided. This is joint work with Kaitlyn Eekhoff (Calvin 2018).
Refreshments precede the talk at 3:30 p.m. in NH 282.