Arational belief convergence.

This model explores consensus among agents in a population in terms of two properties. The first is a probability of belief change (PBC). This value indicates how likely agents are to change their mind in interactions. The other is the size of the agents audience: the proportion of the population th...

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Publicado en:Synthese Vol. 198; no. 15; pp. 6329 - 6351
Autor principal: Lassiter, Charles
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Springer Nature Jul2021
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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        au: Lassiter, Charles
        affil: Philosophy Department, Gonzaga University, Spokane, USA
      su:
        Change agents
        Distributed algorithms
      sug:
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          Change agents
          Distributed algorithms
      keyword:
        Agent-based model
        Arational
        Consensus
        Digital humanities
        Skepticism
      ab: This model explores consensus among agents in a population in terms of two properties. The first is a probability of belief change (PBC). This value indicates how likely agents are to change their mind in interactions. The other is the size of the agents audience: the proportion of the population the agent has access to at any given time. In all instances, the agents converge on a single belief, although the agents are arational. I argue that this generates a skeptical hypothesis: any instance of purportedly rational consensus might just as well be a case of arational belief convergence. I also consider what the model tells us about increasing the likelihood that one agent's belief is adopted by the rest. Agents are most likely to have their beliefs adopted by the entire population when their value for PBC is low relative to the rest of the population and their audience sizes are roughly three-quarters of the largest possible audience. I further explore the consequences of dogmatists to the population; individuals who refuse to change their mind end up polarizing the population. I conclude with reflections on the supposedly special character of rationality in belief-spread.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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