Opinions, choices, actions, and extremism

Abstract

The use of complex systems tools in problems outside physics is a well established tradition. Applications to social and biological problems are particularly common. Previously, I had introduced an opinion dynamics model where it is easy to introduce new interactions and influences between the agents. And I have also worked on an evolutionary model that shows that senescence can be a consequence of adaptative evolution from the competition between individuals. This project aims to use those results and expand on them. In opinion dynamics, the coupling between social networks and opinions will be further explored. General models for the cases where we have more than two choices will be studied. In special, I will focus on circumstances where choices are not symmetric. That model will also be used to generate a needed better comprehension of the theoretical meaning of the term extremism. That definition can depend on the variables used by the model, and how we see the difference between opinions, choices and actions. I will also work on a variation of my opinion dynamics model by introducing a new choice that corresponds to stronger actions by the agents. That is, instead of just having a preference, agents may also choose to make their choices more visible, by adopting actions such as joining a demonstration. The results should help us understand better phenomena such as the Arab spring or the manifestation that followed the Passe Livre movement in Brasil. The new models should also be able to contribute to our understanding the crisis we have observed around food supply problems. Meanwhile, the evolutionary model for aging will also be explored. The importance of effects of locality and diffusion will be studied in the general case. The original model will also be investigated as a possible idea for the evolution of government types. (AU)