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Being educated or even intelligent isn't always an effective defense against misinformation. It can even make it worse because an educated intelligent mind is w
by Eddy_Viscosity2 2y ago
Being educated or even intelligent isn't always an effective defense against misinformation. It can even make it worse because an educated intelligent mind is way better at rationalizing.
The real problem with misinformation is that some people just want it to be true and so it bypasses all critical thinking checks and then reinforced by post-doc rationalizing, cherry-picking, etc.
Disregarding information you want to believe requires significant effort and discipline.
So the real problem is more around why certain people want to believe certain things. If can address the why, then the misinformation will have no power.
- bryanlarsen 2y agoInteresting paper: https://www.experimental-history.com/p/the-illusion-of-moral-decline https://www.experimental-history.com/p/the-illusion-of-moral... Ask "Are people getting less moral/kind/respectful/honest?". Almost everybody will very confidently reply "yes". The most correct answer is "I don't know", although there is good evidence for "no".
- Eddy_Viscosity2 2y agoI bet those results could be swayed significantly if this question was asked first: "Are YOU getting less moral/kind/respectful/honest?"
- tivert 2y agoI'm kinda skeptical about that paper, or at least the conclusion that this is an illusion (which obnoxious people are going run with to deny and disparage people's perceptions, so they get to feel like the clever boy who's better than everyone). I wonder if what's going on is more of "progressive alienation with age," where young people basically accept things as they are in their youth, then get slowly alienated by rapid cultural change. Also maybe there's an age discrimination factor as people get older they become less valued/respected by strangers.