Events
Past Event
WED@NICO SEMINAR: Cristián Huepe, CHuepe Labs & Northwestern "Echo Chambers and Post-Truth from a Complex Systems Perspective"
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
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Lower Level, Chambers Hall
Details
Speaker:
Cristián Huepe, CHuepe Labs & Northwestern University
Title:
Echo Chambers and Post-Truth from a Complex Systems Perspective
Abstract:
The recent emergence of echo chambers and post-truth can be understood through the quantitative study of collective opinion-formation dynamics on social networks. I will present a minimal complex adaptive network model that explains why both phenomena appear to be increasingly common in the internet era. Using numerical and analytical approaches, I will show that this model displays an absorbing state where the network splits into independent components, each with a different internal consensus, which correspond to the echo chambers that lead to post-truth. I will also discuss model extensions that can capture more subtle opinion dynamics and describe our recent analyses of Twitter data, aimed at validating and further developing our theoretical results.
Speaker Bio:
Dr. Cristián Huepe is a theoretical physicist conducting research in complex systems, nonequilibrium dynamics and quantitative social sciences. His current work focuses on collective motion, active matter, complex networks, the art/science interface, and opinion formation. His recent studies on the underlying systemic causes of the post-truth phenomenon have received widespread attention from academia, business and the press.
Dr. Huepe obtained his PhD in Physics at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, after completing undergraduate studies in his native Chile. He was then a postdoctoral scholar in Chicago, first at the University of Chicago and later at Northwestern University. Since 2006, Dr. Huepe has worked as an unaffiliated scientist and head of CHuepe Labs Inc., developing multiple research grant projects, contracts, and collaborations around the world. He is currently an adjunct professor at Northwestern University and external faculty member at the Northwestern Institute on Complex System in the USA, as well as an associate researcher at Beijing Normal University in China and at the SCL-SoL lab in Chile. His work has been featured in the international press and magazines such as Science Daily, Focus Online, National Geographic Germany and Wired Magazine, among others.
Live Stream:
Time
Wednesday, October 10, 2018 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location
Lower Level, Chambers Hall Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
Winter classes begin
University Academic Calendar
All Day
Details
Winter classes begin
Time
Monday, January 5, 2026
Contact
Calendar
University Academic Calendar
WED@NICO Winter Seminar Series returns on January 28th!
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
//
Lower Level, Chambers Hall
Details
The Wednesdsays@NICO speaker series will return for the winter quarter on January 28th, 2026, running through March 4th. Speakers will be announced in January!
Location:
In person: Chambers Hall, 600 Foster Street, Lower Level
Remote option: Zoom links will be provided
About the Speaker Series:
Wednesdays@NICO is a vibrant weekly seminar series focusing broadly on the topics of complex systems, data science and network science. It brings together attendees ranging from graduate students to senior faculty who span all of the schools across Northwestern, from applied math to sociology to biology and every discipline in-between. Please visit: https://bit.ly/WedatNICO for information on future speakers.
Time
Wednesday, January 28, 2026 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location
Lower Level, Chambers Hall Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)