Concept
A self-reinforcing loop formalized by O’Connor & Weatherall: when agents discount evidence from sources they distrust, communities that begin with mild disagreement diverge — each side discounts the other’s findings, beliefs pull apart, and the divergence deepens the distrust that drove it. Polarization here needs no irrationality and no misinformation; rational trust-weighting plus an initial difference is enough.
Connections
- Defined in: Bridge Nodes and Versatile Expertise
- Discussed in: Ch 7 — Emotional Memetics As The Floor, Ch 9 — The Integration Problem
- Evidenced by: The Misinformation Age
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