TheDeGrootmodelisoneofthemostclassicalmodelsinthefieldofopiniondynamics.ThestandardDeGrootmodelassumesthatagentsarehomogeneousandupdatetheiropinionsinthedirectionofaweightedaverageoftheirneighbors'opinions.Onenaturalquestioniswhetherasecondtypeofagentscouldsignificantlychangethemainpropertiesofthemodel.Theauthorsaddressthisquestionbyintroducingrebels,whoupdatetheiropinionstowardtheoppositeoftheirneighbors'weightedaverage.Theauthorsfindthattheexistenceofrebelsremarkablyaffectstheopiniondynamics.Undercertainmildconditions,theexistenceofafewrebelswillleadthegroupopiniontothegoldenmean,regardlessoftheinitialopinionsoftheagentsandthestructureofthelearningnetwork.ThisresultiscompletelydifferentfromthatofthestandardDeGrootmodel,wherethefinalconsensusopinionisdeterminedbyboththeinitialopinionsandthelearningtopology.Thestudythenprovidesnewinsightsintounderstandinghowheterogeneousinpidualsinagroupreachconsensusandwhythegoldenmeanissocommoninhumansociety.