How to be an extremist

TL;DR

This paper introduces a toy model of opinion dynamics on scale-free networks, revealing that increased social attentiveness can lead societies to adopt extreme consensus rather than diverse opinions.

Contribution

It presents a novel opinion spreading model combining self-reinforcement and diffusion, highlighting how increased affectability causes societal shifts to extremism.

Findings

Higher affectability leads to societal consensus on extreme opinions

The model exhibits counter-intuitive behavior with increased social attention

Emergent extremism may explain historical paradoxes

Abstract

We present a toy model of opinion spreading in a society which combines a self-reinforcing mechanism with diffusion. The relative strength of these two mechanisms - called the affectability of the system - is a free parameter of the model. The model is run on a scale-free network and its asymptotic behaviour is investigated. A surprising emergent effect is observed: If every individual becomes more attentive to the opinions of others, the society as a whole switches from a plurality of nuanced opinions into the state of an absolute consensus on an extreme opinion. This counter-intuitive emergent behaviour may help to explain certain paradoxes in human history.