To mitigate the effects of an Information Cascade, one can employ several strategies. Firstly, promoting independent decision-making can help prevent people from blindly following the crowd. Secondly, providing clear and accurate information can help individuals make informed decisions. Thirdly, encouraging skepticism and critical thinking can help individuals question the validity of the cascade. Lastly, regulatory interventions can be used to prevent or slow down the cascade.

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Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions by Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths

Can computer science teach us the secrets of life? Perhaps not, but they can shed light on how certain everyday processes work and how to exploit them...

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When this process begins to avalanche out of control, it is called an "Information Cascade." The real estate crisis of 2007-2009 was an example of home prices rising due to demand, only to crash. People assume that because many others do something that urgency exists. (Toilet paper in 2020, for example.) The results can be catastrophic.

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The book 'Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions' explains the concept of Information Cascade through real-world examples. It describes how people often make decisions based on what others are doing, assuming there's an urgency or correctness in their actions. This can lead to an avalanche-like effect, where a small initial event can trigger a sequence of similar events, leading to potentially catastrophic results. The book uses the real estate crisis of 2007-2009 and the toilet paper shortage in 2020 as examples of Information Cascades.

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