Vetenskaplig korrekthet [1] beror på kvaliteten av fakta och tolkningar av dessa, inte hur pass oförstådda eller (im-)populära dessa är i vissa kretsar.

[1] Detta gäller ‘hårda’ vetenskaper (matematik, fysik, kemi och liknande) som står sig och/eller evolverar över lång tid, inte ‘mjuka’ som ofta beror av rådande stämningar.

Sociala medier samt sökmotorn Google inklusive dotterföretaget YouTube försöker städa upp i röran som såväl beräknande som obetänksamma internetanvändare skapar. Det är inte populärt, sannolikt mest i just dessa kretsar.

Förståeligt nog använder man faktisk ålder som en parameter men jag räknar med att det skiljer rejält mellan olika personer när man ”stelnar i tanken” och hellre delar länkar man gillar än kollar upp bakgrunden.

Younger adults tend to be more concerned that they’ve shared falsehoods, with 25% of those ages 18 to 29 very or extremely worried that they have spread misinformation, compared to just 14% of adults ages 60 and older. Sixty-three percent of older adults are not concerned, compared with roughly half of other Americans.

https://www.snopes.com/ap/2021/10/08/americans-agree-misinformation-is-a-problem-poll-shows/

Artikel i Ny Teknik: https://www.nyteknik.se/digitalisering/nu-stoppar-google-klimatfornekande-annonsering-7022254

…similar thing happens when you surf the Internet. Just having access to all that information makes you feel like you know a lot more than you do.

This sense of understanding i contagious. And when contagious understanding is paired with individual ignorance. it can be a toxic recipe.

Philip Fernbach, ”cognitive scientist” – TEDxMileHigh https://youtu.be/jobYTQTgeUE

Formar du dina åsikter själv eller beror de på omgivningen du lever i?

But when we go through life feeling like we individually have it figured out, it can lead to a warped and simplistic view of the world:

”My way is perfect. Yours is crazy, or evil.”

Misinformation can do damage

Misinformation is false information that is spread either by mistake or with intent to mislead. When there is intent to mislead, it is called disinformation. Misinformation has the potential to cause substantial harm to individuals and society. It is therefore important to protect people against being misinformed, either by making them resilient against misinformation before it is encountered or by debunking it after people have been exposed.

Misinformation can be sticky!

Fact-checking can reduce people’s beliefs in false information. However, misinformation often continues to influence people’s thinking even after they receive and accept a correction—this is known as the “continued influence effect” 1. Even if a factual correction seems effective—because people acknowledge it and it is clear that they have updated their beliefs—people frequently rely on the misinformation in other contexts, for example when answering questions only indirectly related to the misinformation. It is therefore important to use the most effective debunking approaches to achieve maximal impact.

Prevent misinformation from sticking if you can

Because misinformation is sticky, it’s best preempted. This can be achieved by explaining misleading or manipulative argumentation strategies to people—a technique known as “inoculation” that makes people resilient to subsequent manipulation attempts. A potential drawback of inoculation is that it requires advance knowledge of misinformation techniques and is best administered before people are exposed to the misinformation.

Debunk often and properly

If you cannot preempt, you must debunk. For debunking to be effective, it is important to provide detailed refutations 2, 3. Provide a clear explanation of (1) why it is now clear that the information is false, and (2) what is true instead. When those detailed refutations are provided, misinformation can be “unstuck.” Without detailed refutations, the misinformation may continue to stick around despite correction attempts.

Klicka för att komma åt DebunkingHandbook2020.pdf