Organizational and dynamical aspects of a small network with two distinct communities : Neo creationists vs. Evolution Defenders

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the citation network between Neo creationists and Evolution Defenders, revealing dynamic competition and heterogeneity in influence and activity within a small, evolving debate network.

Contribution

It provides a quantitative analysis of the structural and dynamical properties of a small debate network, focusing on activity and impact metrics over time.

Findings

The dynamics show triggered or damped competition between communities.

High connectivity nodes act as opinion leaders influencing information exchange.

The network exhibits marked heterogeneity in activity and influence.

Abstract

Social impacts and degrees of organization inherent to opinion formation for interacting agents on networks present interesting questions of general interest from physics to sociology. We present a quantitative analysis of a case implying an evolving small size network, i.e. that inherent to the ongoing debate between modern creationists (most are Intelligent Design (ID) proponents (IDP)) and Darwin's theory of Evolution Defenders (DED)). This study is carried out by analyzing the structural properties of the citation network unfolded in the recent decades by publishing works belonging to members of the two communities. With the aim of capturing the dynamical aspects of the interaction between the IDP and DED groups, we focus on $two$ key quantities, namely, the {\it degree of activity} of each group and the corresponding {\it degree of impact} on the intellectual community at large. A representative measure of the former is provided by the {\it rate of production of publications} (RPP), whilst the latter can be assimilated to the{\it rate of increase in citations} (RIC). These quantities are determined, respectively, by the slope of the time series obtained for the number of publications accumulated per year and by the slope of a similar time series obtained for the corresponding citations. The results indicate that in this case, the dynamics can be seen as geared by triggered or damped competition. The network is a specific example of marked heterogeneity in exchange of information activity in and between the communities, particularly demonstrated through the nodes having a high connectivity degree, i.e. opinion leaders.