Weatherall, James Owen and O'Connor, Cailin (2018) Do as I Say, Not as I Do, or, Conformity in Scientific Networks. [Preprint]
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Abstract
Scientists are generally subject to social pressures, including pressures to conform with others in their communities, that affect achievement of their epistemic goals. Here we analyze a network epistemology model in which agents, all else being equal, prefer to take actions that conform with those of their neighbors. This preference for conformity interacts with the agents' beliefs about which of two (or more) possible actions yields the better outcome. We find a range of possible outcomes, including stable polarization in belief and action. The model results are sensitive to network structure. In general, though, conformity has a negative effect on a community's ability to reach accurate consensus about the world.
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| Item Type: | Preprint | |||||||||
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| Keywords: | conformity, epistemic networks, small worlds | |||||||||
| Subjects: | General Issues > Decision Theory General Issues > Science and Society General Issues > Science and Policy |
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| Depositing User: | James Owen Weatherall | |||||||||
| Date Deposited: | 15 May 2018 13:42 | |||||||||
| Last Modified: | 15 May 2018 13:42 | |||||||||
| Item ID: | 14668 | |||||||||
| Subjects: | General Issues > Decision Theory General Issues > Science and Society General Issues > Science and Policy |
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| Date: | 2018 | |||||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/14668 |
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