People Are Not Points in Space: Network Models of Beliefs and Discussions

ABSTRACT

Metaphors of positions, spectrums, perspectives, viewpoints, and polarization reflect the same model, which treats beliefs—and the people who hold them—as points in space. This model is deeply rooted in quantitative research methods and influential traditions of Continental philosophy, and it is evident in some qualitative research. It can suggest that deliberation is difficult and rare because many people are located far apart ideologically, and their respective positions can be explained as dependent variables of factors like personality, partisanship, and demographics. An alternative model treats a given person’s beliefs as connected by reasons to form networks. People disclose the connections among their respective beliefs when they discuss issues. This model offers insights about specific cases, such as discussions conducted on two US college campuses, which are represented here as belief-networks. The model also supports a more optimistic view of the public’s capacity to deliberate.

Keywords:

• Belief networks
• deliberation
• motivated reasoning
• polarization

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Quotations from an online survey fielded through Lucid Theorm, quota-sampled to approximate national benchmarks for age, race/ethnicity, and gender, in February of 2022 (N = 3,630) conducted for a study of political belief networks by Jon Green, Nik Fishman, Samantha Cadenasso, and Peter Levine.

2 Approved by Tufts University IRB board, #1602013 (2016).