Sobkowicz Paweł
Nomaten Centre of Excellence, National Centre for Nuclear Research, A Soltana 7, 05-400 Otwock, Poland.
Entropy (Basel). 2023 Mar 26;25(4):568. doi: 10.3390/e25040568.
Most sociophysics opinion dynamics simulations assume that contacts between agents lead to greater similarity of opinions, and that there is a tendency for agents having similar opinions to group together. These mechanisms result, in many types of models, in significant polarization, understood as separation between groups of agents having conflicting opinions. The addition of inflexible agents (zealots) or mechanisms, which drive conflicting opinions even further apart, only exacerbates these polarizing processes. Using a universal mathematical framework, formulated in the language of utility functions, we present novel simulation results. They combine polarizing tendencies with mechanisms potentially favoring diverse, non-polarized environments. The simulations are aimed at answering the following question: How can non-polarized systems exist in stable configurations? The framework enables easy introduction, and study, of the effects of external "pro-diversity", and its contribution to the utility function. Specific examples presented in this paper include an extension of the classic square geometry Ising-like model, in which agents modify their opinions, and a dynamic scale-free network system with two different mechanisms promoting local diversity, where agents modify the structure of the connecting network while keeping their opinions stable. Despite the differences between these models, they show fundamental similarities in results in terms of the existence of low temperature, stable, locally and globally diverse states, i.e., states in which agents with differing opinions remain closely linked. While these results do not answer the socially relevant question of how to combat the growing polarization observed in many modern democratic societies, they open a path towards modeling polarization diminishing activities. These, in turn, could act as guidance for implementing actual depolarization social strategies.
大多数社会物理学意见动态模拟假设，主体之间的接触会导致意见更加相似，并且意见相似的主体有聚集在一起的趋势。在许多类型的模型中，这些机制会导致显著的两极分化，即持有相互冲突意见的主体群体之间的分离。加入不灵活的主体（狂热者）或使冲突意见进一步分化的机制，只会加剧这些两极分化过程。我们使用以效用函数语言表述的通用数学框架，展示了新颖的模拟结果。这些结果将两极分化趋势与可能有利于多样化、非两极分化环境的机制结合起来。这些模拟旨在回答以下问题：非两极分化系统如何以稳定配置存在？该框架便于引入和研究外部“促进多样性”的影响及其对效用函数的贡献。本文给出的具体例子包括经典方形几何伊辛类模型的扩展，其中主体会改变他们的意见，以及一个具有两种促进局部多样性的不同机制的动态无标度网络系统，其中主体在保持意见稳定的同时改变连接网络的结构。尽管这些模型存在差异，但就低温、稳定、局部和全局多样化状态（即持有不同意见的主体仍紧密相连的状态）的存在而言，它们在结果上显示出基本的相似性。虽然这些结果没有回答如何应对许多现代民主社会中日益加剧的两极分化这一与社会相关的问题，但它们为模拟减少两极分化的活动开辟了一条道路。反过来，这些活动可以为实施实际的去极化社会策略提供指导。
