Looking ahead. Examples, phenomena, and principles such as these will motivate the
ways in which we analyze networks, behavior, and population-level dynamics throughout the
book. Understanding whether a principle holds across many settings will involve formulating and reasoning about mathematical models, and also reasoning qualitatively about these
models and searching for their broader implications. In this way, we can hope to develop
a network perspective as a powerful way of looking at complex systems in general — a
way of thinking about social dynamics, economic interaction, on-line information, designed
technology, and natural processes, and approaching such systems with an eye toward their
patterns of internal structure and the rich feedback effects that result