Dynamics in Social Systems

The course gives the philosophy and tools to model and analyse systems where humans are "components". These tools are well suited for cross-disciplinary work, also because only moderate mathematical knowledge is required, even if some basic knowledge of differential equations is advantageous. The course uses examples from decision processes, politics, epidemics, fads and fashion dynamics, competition between firms and products, media competition. Dynamics of macroeconomic systems will be given special weight.
Four important elements in dynamical systems are taught: Stock/flow relations, positive and negative feedback loops, nonlinearities and feedback loops with inertia or time delays. These fundamental phenomena lead to system properties like exponential growth, S-shaped growth (saturation), lock-in, multiple equilibria, oscillations, overshoot. Analysis is executed with graphical techniques and computer simulation.

Knowledge:
- To understand the behaviour and the special properties of systems where humans are "components".
- To know the properties of typical system components including humans, possible forms of interaction between these when they are coupled together and thus constitute a system, and the most important types of dynamics resulting from this.
- To be familiar with causal diagrams, block diagrams and stock-flow diagrams.
- To be familiar with some cases of important and typical non-technical systems (from organisation, firm, group, society, opinion, politics, media, ecology, health, economics), how to model them, and what sort of properties they exhibit.

Skills:
- Modeling skills: to be able to decide what should be components in a model and how these should interact, how to make the model simple without making it invalid, how to decide what should be considered to be outside the model.
- To master graphic representation with causal, block- and stock-flow diagrams of non-technical dynamical systems, and to run simulations based on the latter.
- To be able to explain and discuss system properties with colleagues using the philosophy and tools from this discipline.

General competence:
- An understanding of the existence of non-intuitive or non-expected outcomes from common policies, and the mechanisms that explain such outcomes.
- A strengthened ability to think creatively and "outside the box".
- A strengthened ability to work across disciplines, to communicate with people from different backgrounds about problems where this approach is useful.

Lectures, self study, exercises.