Zhi Zhu 🕸️Dec 17, 2022

Why do our brains believe lies?

"the more we see something repeated, the more likely we are to believe it to be true.

This “illusory truth effect” arises because we use familiarity and ease of understanding as a shorthand for truth; the more something is repeated, the more familiar and fluent it feels whether it is misinformation or fact."
~https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2022/11/03/misinformation-brain-beliefs/

#Propaganda #Disinformation #Misinformation
#Lies #FakeNews #USPolitics #News

Why do our brains believe lies?

Many of the decisions we make depend on accurate information, but our psychological biases and predispositions make us vulnerable to the spread of falsehoods.

The Washington Post
Show threadZhi Zhu 🕸️Dec 17, 2022

"But these shortcuts do not work so well in our current political environment and social media, which can repeat and amplify falsehoods.

One study found that even a single exposure to a fake headline made it seem truer.

Politicians often repeat lies and seem to be aware of the power of the illusory truth effect"
~https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2022/11/03/misinformation-brain-beliefs/

#Propaganda #Disinformation
#Misinformation
#Lies #FakeNews #USPolitics #Politicians
#Journalism #Journalists

Why do our brains believe lies?

Many of the decisions we make depend on accurate information, but our psychological biases and predispositions make us vulnerable to the spread of falsehoods.

The Washington Post
Show threadZhi Zhu 🕸️Dec 17, 2022

'Why misinformation resists correction

Once we have heard misinformation, it is hard to uproot even when we want to know the truth.

Multiple studies have found that misinformation can still influence our thinking even if we receive a correction and believe it to be true, a phenomenon known as the “continued influence effect.”
~https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2022/11/03/misinformation-brain-beliefs/

#Propaganda #Disinformation
#Misinformation
#Lies #USPolitics #Politicians
#Journalism #Journalists

Why do our brains believe lies?

Many of the decisions we make depend on accurate information, but our psychological biases and predispositions make us vulnerable to the spread of falsehoods.

The Washington Post
Show threadZhi Zhu 🕸️Dec 17, 2022

"correcting #misinformation is even more challenging if it is embedded into our identity or system of belief.

People build mental models of the world to make sense of unfolding situations and “it’s very difficult to rip out a plank of this edifice without the whole thing collapsing,” Lewandowsky said. “If it is an important component of your mental model, it is cognitively very difficult to just yank it out and say it’s false.”"
~https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2022/11/03/misinformation-brain-beliefs/

Why do our brains believe lies?

Many of the decisions we make depend on accurate information, but our psychological biases and predispositions make us vulnerable to the spread of falsehoods.

The Washington Post
Show threadZhi Zhu 🕸️Dec 17, 2022

"How to inoculate the brain from misinformation

There is so much misinformation out there that it is not feasible to react to each new falsehood that arises. “It’s like playing a game of whack-a-mole. You can be very good, but at the end, the mole always wins,” Walter said."
~https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2022/11/03/misinformation-brain-beliefs/

#Propaganda #Disinformation
#Misinformation
#Lies #FakeNews #USPolitics #Politicians
#Journalism #Journalists

Why do our brains believe lies?

Many of the decisions we make depend on accurate information, but our psychological biases and predispositions make us vulnerable to the spread of falsehoods.

The Washington Post
Show threadZhi Zhu 🕸️Dec 17, 2022

"Another way to protect yourself is to simply pay attention to whether what you are seeing is accurate. When people scroll through their social media feeds, they aren’t always thinking about accuracy.

One recent study found that subtly nudging people to consider whether what they see is accurate made them less likely to share misinformation."
~https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2022/11/03/misinformation-brain-beliefs/

#Propaganda #Disinformation
#Lies #FakeNews #USPolitics #Politicians
#Journalism #Journalists

Why do our brains believe lies?

Many of the decisions we make depend on accurate information, but our psychological biases and predispositions make us vulnerable to the spread of falsehoods.

The Washington Post
Show threadZhi Zhu 🕸️

The above article explains why it is so important NOT to repeat lies on social media (and elsewhere). If you want to debunk a lie, you need to state the truth FIRST and more often than you repeat the lies.

Repetition cannot create TRUTH,
but repetition can create BELIEF.

Repeat a lie often enough, & even people who *know* better will start to doubt reality & believe the lie.

#Propaganda #Disinformation
#Misinformation
#Lies #FakeNews
#Journalism #Journalists

Dec 17, 2022 at 8:00pmWeb
Show threadZhi Zhu 🕸️Dec 17, 2022

To refute lies:

Always LEAD WITH THE TRUTH, not the lies.

DO **NOT** put the lies FIRST in your social media posts, headlines, and/or articles.

Giving lies primacy, gives them validity.

What you read first "seems" more true than what you read afterwards.

Give truth primacy, not lies.

#LeadWithTheTruth
#LedeWithTheTruth (<for the journalists)
#Propaganda #Disinformation
#Misinformation
#Lies #FakeNews
#Journalism #Journalists

Show threadZhi Zhu 🕸️Dec 17, 2022

Admittedly, you are more likely to believe what you hear from a source you trust, than from one that you are unfamiliar with or already distrust.

That's why major news media "normalizing" certain opinions is so dangerous. Being "fair and balanced" with liars is doing a disservice to their readers. It REPEATEDLY exposes their readers to known lies.

Journalists should be more concerned with being fair to their readers than to the liars.

#Journalism #Journalists

Show threadTofu GolemDec 17, 2022

@ZhiZhu
Absolutely. If you hear the same thing from many different independent sources, it's generally a good idea to add credibility to that thing.

But our brains can't tell the difference between hearing one thing from five different people and hearing one person say the same thing five times. I forget which cognitive bias this one is.

Show threadrmabennettDec 17, 2022
@ZhiZhu suggestion, it's primitive but effective when repeated endlessly, we have lazy brains