Eight Principles of the Network

The word "network" occupies a central seat in the lexicon of contemporary language and thought. From the emergence of "social networking sites" to the "medical network" of the family physician to the crash of our company's "IT network" to the "transportation network" in your city - - the word has become firmly attached to modern culture and business.

The study of networks is a relatively new discipline or, rather, multidiscipline. It is a hybrid science, combining, among other things, mathematics, physics, engineering, biology, sociology, and economics. At its core is an understanding that we are all connected to a vast network of life. Our natural ecology is a network, the human body is a network, and each of us is part of a social network of interdependent relationships.

The eight principles of the network from Jump Point: How Network Culture is Revolutionizing Business (2008) by author Tom Hayes are as follows:

1. Networks are made of connected "nodes."
2. Nodes connect directly to each other.
3. Some nodes have more connections than others.
4. The more connected a node is, the more valuable it is.
5. Information in a network moves like a virus, from node node.
6. Nodes spread information according to self-interest.
7. Big networks contain smaller networks.
8. Networks want to grow; the bigger, the better.