Researchers who study belief dynamics often use analogies to understand and model the complex cognitive–social systems that underlie why we believe the things we do and how those beliefs can change over time. Ideas can be transmitted like a virus, for instance, "infecting" a population as they spread from person to person. We might be drawn—like magnets—to others with a similar worldview. A society's beliefs can shift slowly before reaching a tipping point that thrusts society into a new phase.
