Scientific polarization
Authored by Cailin O'Connor, James Owen Weatherall
Date Published: 2018
DOI: 10.1007/s13194-018-0213-9
Sponsors:
United States National Science Foundation (NSF)
Platforms:
No platforms listed
Model Documentation:
Other Narrative
Model Code URLs:
Model code not found
Abstract
Contemporary societies are often ``polarized{''}, in the sense that
sub-groups within these societies hold stably opposing beliefs, even
when there is a fact of the matter. Extant models of polarization do not
capture the idea that some beliefs are true and others false. Here we
present a model, based on the network epistemology framework of Bala and
Goyal (Learning from neighbors, Rev. Econ. Stud. 65(3), 784-811 1998),
in which polarization emerges even though agents gather evidence about
their beliefs, and true belief yields a pay-off advantage. As we
discuss, these results are especially relevant to polarization in
scientific communities, for these reasons. The key mechanism that
generates polarization involves treating evidence generated by other
agents as uncertain when their beliefs are relatively different from
one's own.
Tags
Communication
polarization
Social epistemology
Network
Consensus
Model
Opinion
Attitude
Climate-change
Agent
based modeling
Network epistemology
Theory change
Antibiotic-treatment
Belief polarization