Discrete Simulation of the Dynamics of Opinions about Extremism

Abstract

We propose a discrete model for how opinion about a given phenomenon, about which various groups of a population have different degrees of enthusiasm, such as fanaticism and extreme social and political positions, including terrorism, may spread. The model, in a certain limit, is the discrete analogue of a deterministic continuum model suggested by others. We carry out extensive computer simulation of the model by utilizing it on lattices with infinite- or short-range interactions, and on (directed) Barabasi-Albert scale-free networks. Several interesting features of the model are demonstrated, and comparison is made with the continuum model.