some notes during reading "Networks, Crowds and Markets" by David Easley and Jon Kleinberg - Introduction

a network is a pattern of interconnections among a set of things

adding resources in a network can undermine its efficiency - Braess's paradox

a notion of equilibrium - a state that is self-reinforcing in that it provides no individual with an incentive to unilaterally change his or her strategy, even knowing how others will behave

we have a fundamental inclination to behave as we see other to behave: 1) the behavior of others convey the information or it is a direct benefit from aligning your behavior with that of others

in many cases you care more about aligning your own behavior with the behavior of your immediate neigbors  in the social network, rather than with the population as a whole.

a new behavior starts with a small set of initial adopters and then spread radially outward through the network.

a diffusion of technologies can be blocked by the boundary of a densely connected cluster in the network- a "closed community" of individuals who have a high amount of linkage among themselves, and hence are resistant to outside influences,