Abstract
In such different domains as statistical physics and spin glasses,
neurosciences, social science, economics and finance, large ensemble of
interacting individuals taking their decisions either in accordance
(mainstream) or against (hipsters) the majority are ubiquitous. Yet, trying
hard to be different often ends up in hipsters consistently taking the same
decisions, in other words all looking alike. We resolve this apparent paradox
studying a canonical model of statistical physics, enriched by incorporating
the delays necessary for information to be communicated. We show a generic
phase transition in the system: when hipsters are too slow in detecting the
trends, they will keep making the same choices and therefore remain correlated
as time goes by, while their trend evolves in time as a periodic function. This
is true as long as the majority of the population is made of hipsters.
Otherwise, hipsters will be, again, largely aligned, towards a constant
direction which is imposed by the mainstream choices. Beyond the choice of the
best suit to wear this winter, this study may have important implications in
understanding dynamics of inhibitory networks of the brain or investment
strategies finance, or the understanding of emergent dynamics in social
science, domains in which delays of communication and the geometry of the
systems are prominent.
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