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Misinformation looks a lot like being wrong. And we can't solve "being wrong". We're going to be wrong a lot before we're right. The problem stems from the fac
by bena 5y ago
Misinformation looks a lot like being wrong. And we can't solve "being wrong". We're going to be wrong a lot before we're right.
The problem stems from the fact that we have to allow people to be wrong to get any sort of progress. If we must be 100% correct before pushing forward, we'd never push forward. Sometimes, it has to be "just good enough".
From the start, we thought the Earth was flat and all that ever was. We were wrong.
Then we thought the Earth was round and everything revolved around it. We were wrong.
The we thought the Earth was round and everything revolved around the Sun. We were still wrong.
Fast forward some time.
Now we think the Earth is an oblate spheroid orbiting a medium sized star in an arm of a spiral galaxy traveling away from the point of origin. We are likely still wrong about this.
But less wrong than yesterday. And that's what's important.
It's not "critical thinking" we need to teach. Such a loaded concept to begin with. We need to teach people how to be wrong. That it is ok to be wrong. That wrong often leads to right. We can't become so entrenched in our ideas that we can never move from them. Don't wait for the other guy to budge on their ideas. And don't concern yourself with them. Unless they're incredibly lucky, they'll spin their wheels while you eventually get to right.
- panarky 5y agoMisinformation is different from doing our best to understand how the world works and getting it wrong. Misinformation is understanding perfectly well how the world works and intentionally spreading lies and half-truths to achieve a political goal.
- Jeff_Brown 5y agoYes to both the parent and some of the grandparent comments. We need people to have the freedom to be wrong, but that gives cover to intentional liars.
- bena 5y agoYes, and what those intentional misinformers have learned is that once you plant an idea in most people's heads, that's now their locus. No one wants to be "wrong" and everyone wants to be "smart", where smart is defined as always being "right". So being wrong is seen as being stupid. And this is a concept that is being pushed. That's the problem. We need to push back on the concept that being wrong is a bad thing. Once we allow ourselves to be wrong, misinformation finds less purchase. Because you're allowed to change your mind. Don't be concerned with getting it right the first time, be wrong so fast no one notices.