Abstract
While opinion dynamics models and language change models seem to be very different at first sight, we demonstrate in this paper that they are more similar than they look like. Here, we analyse the similarities and differences between the Social Influence with Recurrent Mobility model (Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 158701) and the Utterance Selection Model of language change (Phys. Rev. E 73, 046118), two models that simulate a stochastic dynamics on a complex network, and show that their mesoscopic dynamic is strikingly similar. By drawing an analogy between the two models, we discuss possibilities of cross-fertilization of research between the two problems.
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But note that the SIRM model relaxes some of the problematic assumptions of the Voter Model. Errors can occur in the copying processes and unilateral change of opinion is possible.
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Michaud, J. (2020). Modelling Opinion Dynamics and Language Change: Two Faces of the Same Coin. In: Cherifi, H., Gaito, S., Mendes, J., Moro, E., Rocha, L. (eds) Complex Networks and Their Applications VIII. COMPLEX NETWORKS 2019. Studies in Computational Intelligence, vol 882. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36683-4_25
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36683-4_25
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