From students to politicians, many smart people have fallen for dangerous lies spread about the new coronavirus. Why? And how can you protect yourself from misinformation? The following are some points from this story:
(1) ‘Truthy fakes’ within the information overload: “Purveyors of fake news can make their message feel ‘truthy’ through a few simple tricks, which discourages us from applying our critical thinking skills – such as checking the veracity of its source. As the authors of one paper put it: ‘When thoughts flow smoothly, people nod along’... ‘The simple presence of an image alongside a statement increases our trust in its accuracy – even if it is only tangentially related to the claim.’
(2) Repetition of a statement – whether the same text, or over multiple messages – can increase the “truthiness” by increasing feelings of familiarity, which we mistake for factual accuracy. So, the more often we see something in our news feed, the more likely we are to think that it’s true – even if we were originally sceptical.
(3) ‘Cognitive miserliness’ (some of us possess substantial mental reserves, but don’t ‘spend’ them) renders us susceptible to many cognitive biases, and it also seems to change the way we consume information (and misinformation).
Matthew Stanley, Duke University in Durham, North Carolina: ‘...around 13% of US citizens believed this theory [that Covid-19 was a hoax], which could potentially discourage hygiene and social distancing... “We need more communications and strategy work to target those folks who are not as willing to be reflective and deliberative.”
Read here (BBC, April 6, 2020)
