Abstract:
An agent-based computer model was designed in NetLogo to study the communication of environmentally
relevant scientific information in a heterogeneous society. The roles of uncertainty, expert
interpretation, and intentional information selection in the maintenance of false beliefs even when the
agent has a personal incentive to hold beliefs that correspond to exogenous reality were studied. The
relative importance and power of these influences in the emergence of stable or complex dynamic
networks of false belief systems were investigated. In addition, this work has implications for environmental
policy and social activism.
