Punctuated equilibrium dynamics in human communications

TL;DR

This paper introduces a minimal model capturing the non-Poisson statistical properties of human communication, revealing rich activity patterns and bimodal phenomena, and linking priority queues with punctuated equilibrium in social systems.

Contribution

It presents a novel minimal model that explains non-Poisson behaviors in human communication, connecting priority queues with punctuated equilibrium.

Findings

Model reproduces non-Poisson spatial-temporal activity patterns

Explains bimodal phenomena in human communication behaviors

Provides insights into social interacting systems

Abstract

A minimal model based on individual interactions is proposed to study the non-Poisson statistical properties of human behavior: individuals in the system interact with their neighbors, the probability of an individual acting correlates to its activity, and all individuals involved in action will change their activities randomly. The model creates rich non-Poisson spatial-temporal properties in the activities of individuals, in agreement with the patterns of human communication behaviors. Our findings provide insight into various human activities, embracing a range of realistic social interacting systems, particularly, intriguing bimodal phenomenons. This model bridges priority queues and punctuated equilibrium, and our modeling and analysis is likely to shed light on non-Poisson phenomena in many complex systems.