The misinformation age
Subtitle: how false beliefs spread
By: Cailin O'Connor, James Owen Weatherall
Contributors: Weatherall, James Owen, author
Published: 2019
Language: eng
Number of pages: 266
ISBN-13: 9780300234015
Copyright date: 2019
Subjects: Errors; Cognitive psychology; Social aspects; PSYCHOLOGY / Cognitive Psychology; SCIENCE / Cognitive Science; Truthfulness and falsehood; Information behavior; Sociology; Psychological aspects; PSYCHOLOGY / Social Psychology
Description: Why should we care about having true beliefs? And why do demonstrably false beliefs persist and spread despite consequences for the people who hold them? Philosophers of science Cailin O'Connor and James Weatherall argue that social factors, rather than individual psychology, are what's essential to understanding the spread and persistence of false belief. It might seem that there's an obvious reason that true beliefs matter: false beliefs will hurt you. But if that's right, then why is it (apparently) irrelevant to many people whether they believe true things or not? In an age riven by "fake news," "alternative facts," and disputes over the validity of everything from climate change to the size of inauguration crowds, the authors argue that social factors, not individual psychology, are what's essential to understanding the persistence of false belief and that we must know how those social forces work in order to fight misinformation effectively.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 215-250) and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction: The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary; title: What Is truth?; title: Polarization and conformity; title: The evangelization of peoples; title: The social network.