Before revision:  This paper performs a head-to-head comparison between independent and interdependent diffusion. Simulations identify two social processes that emerge when diffusants interact, and predict that as a result of interdependent diffusion, worldviews will emerge that are unconstrained by external truth, and polarization will develop in homogenous populations. A controlled laboratory experimentconfirms these predictions with 2400 participants in 120 artificial social networks. I conclude that the assumption of independence between diffusants is not as universally appropriate as its ubiquity would suggest.
After revision:  This paper performs a head-to-head comparison between independent and interdependent beliefs using simulations, observational data analysis, and a 2400-subject laboratory experiment. I find that in assuming independence between diffusants is not as universally appropriate as its ubiquity would suggest.