why are unpopular beliefs more highly correlated with other beliefs?
The point is that even beliefs we consider correct were, when they were still unpopular, limited to a small group of people and highly correlated with other beliefs. That’s how ideas spread. At one point, atheism was correlated with lots of radical ideas because all of society was religious, and atheism was so far from the status quo that nobody was going to be one without a type of conviction that would lead them to extremism in general (by their time’s standards).
Do you think that support for gay marriage 20 years ago was rare but randomly distributed through the population?
The point is that even beliefs we consider correct were, when they were still unpopular, limited to a small group of people and highly correlated with other beliefs. That’s how ideas spread. At one point, atheism was correlated with lots of radical ideas because all of society was religious, and atheism was so far from the status quo that nobody was going to be one without a type of conviction that would lead them to extremism in general (by their time’s standards).
Do you think that support for gay marriage 20 years ago was rare but randomly distributed through the population?