The Problems of Belief Polarization

Belief polarization is the pulling apart of two camps or parties or factions, so that the middle ground drops out between them. As groups shift into their more extreme attitudes and dispositions, they become more alike internally. They also start behaving like each other across a broadening range of activities. And as we shift into our more extreme selves, we start seeing all opponents as a monolith. We start attributing to them only the most extreme opposing views - which typically are the least plausible versions of the views that oppose our own.