# Endogenous Epistemic Factionalization

## TL;DR

This paper presents a model explaining how epistemic factionalization arises endogenously when agents mistrust evidence from dissimilar groups, leading to correlated polarized beliefs across multiple topics.

## Contribution

It introduces a novel model demonstrating how mistrust among agents causes the endogenous formation of polarized epistemic factions across various propositions.

## Key findings

- Agents tend to form polarized factions based on shared beliefs.
- Mistrust of dissimilar evidence leads to correlated beliefs across multiple issues.
- Factions emerge naturally without external enforcement or pre-existing divisions.

## Abstract

Why do people who disagree about one subject tend to disagree about other subjects as well? In this paper, we introduce a model to explore this phenomenon of "epistemic factionization". Agents attempt to discover the truth about multiple propositions by testing the world and sharing evidence gathered. But agents tend to mistrust evidence shared by those who do not hold similar beliefs. This mistrust leads to the endogenous emergence of factions of agents with multiple, highly correlated, polarized beliefs.