Albert-László Barabási, the physicist and network theory guru whose work we’ve covered over the years, has a new book that promises to show how human behavior is predictable. Bursts: The Hidden Pattern Behind Everything We Do, due out April 29, is based on a study of the electronic trails we all leave behind.
The key finding is that the pattern of our activities is ordered rather than random. Our behavior is bursty, like network traffic. In other words, there are long periods with little going on punctuated by bursts of activity.
Barabási has developed an online game, BuRSTS, as part of the book’s promotion. Once you register, you can adopt one of the book’s 84,245 words, which allows you to see all the words other people have adopted. My word is “staircase”, the 1,146th word adopted. You win points by guessing unadopted words and by inviting people to register. The top guesser and top inviter each day wins a signed copy of the book.
BuRSTS is also an experiment. Here’s how Barabási describes it:
“BuRSTS is an experiment designed to take advantage of the opportunities defined by the layout of a book…  It is designed to bring the text alive and create a collective burst similar to the one described in the book. It is also a game of cooperation and prediction, creating an imprint of human activity.”
Check it out and let me know what you think at eric [at] trnmag [dot] com.
Do you know of similar research? How about other collective online activities that could be used to illustrate Barabási’s idea? And if you join the game, let me know what your word is.