Polarized groups bundle unrelated beliefs into correlated packages
Evidence
In this model, we find that groups polarize, just as they do when only one problem is at stake. But now, perhaps surprisingly, when they polarize, they tend to form subcommunities whose beliefs on both problems are highly correlated. One finds, say, a subcommunity whose members all hold A and Z and another whose members all hold B and Y. Note that the true beliefs do not necessarily correlate with one another: the model often yields cases in which the two communities each hold one true and one false belief. — Cailin O’Connor and James Owen Weatherall, The Misinformation Age, 464
Categorization
- DEEPTHINKING: The finding that polarization clusters unrelated beliefs together — explaining why political camps hold coherent-looking but causally unrelated beliefs — is a genuinely paradigm-shifting insight.
- XREF: connects to: Source-trusting alone can split a community into stable opposing epistemic camps — Cailin O’Connor and James Owen Weatherall, The Misinformation Age: How False…, 249; Individually rational agents can form collectively irrational groups — Cailin O’Connor and James Owen Weatherall, The Misinformation Age: How False…, 50; Polarization similarity hides distinct causes requiring opposite interventions — Cailin O’Connor and James Owen Weatherall, The Misinformation Age: How False…, 311 (+2 more)
Broader Connections
- Belief in one form of stigmatized knowledge predicts belief in unrelated others
#exemplifies(0.85) — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 545 - Rejecting one out-group predicts rejecting many unrelated out-groups
#exemplifies(0.85)