Not Born Yesterday: The Science of Who We Trust and What We Believe by
Why people are not as gullible as we think Not Born Yesterday explains how we decide who we can trust and what we should believe--and argues that we're pretty good at making these decisions. In this lively and provocative book, Hugo Mercier demonstrates how virtually all attempts at mass persuasion--whether by religious leaders, politicians, or advertisers--fail miserably. Drawing on recent findings from political science and other fields ranging from history to anthropology, Mercier shows that the narrative of widespread gullibility, in which a credulous public is easily misled by demagogues and charlatans, is simply wrong. Why is mass persuasion so difficult? Mercier uses the latest findings from experimental psychology to show how each of us is endowed with sophisticated cognitive mechanisms of open vigilance. Computing a variety of cues, these mechanisms enable us to be on guard against harmful beliefs, while being open enough to change our minds when presented with the right evidence. Even failures--when we accept false confessions, spread wild rumors, or fall for quack medicine--are better explained as bugs in otherwise well-functioning cognitive mechanisms than as symptoms of general gullibility. Not Born Yesterday shows how we filter the flow of information that surrounds us, argues that we do it well, and explains how we can do it better still.
Research Anthology on Fake News, Political Warfare, and Combatting the Spread of Misinformation by
With recent headlines around fake news from world leaders and around presidential elections, Twitter and other social media platforms being pressured to detect and label misinformation posted on their platforms, as well as misinformation around COVID-19 and its vaccine, the world has seen an increase in protests, policy changes, and even chaos surrounding this information. This spread of misinformation, when left unchecked, can turn fiction into fact and result in a mass misconception of the truth that shapes opinions, creates false narratives, and impacts multiple facets of society in potentially detrimental ways, indicating a need for the latest research on how the devastating impacts of this trend, how to discern facts from misinformation, as well as more information on technological advancements in fake news detection The Research Anthology on Fake News, Political Warfare, and Combatting the Spread of Misinformation is a compilation of the most comprehensive, previously published, and highly cited research from prestigious institutions including Columbia University and Stanford University, USA, which focuses on understanding fake news, how it spreads, its negative effects, and current solutions being investigated. While highlighting topics such as fake news, trending conspiracy theories, media distrust, political warfare, and detection methods, this book is ideally intended for practitioners, stakeholders, researchers, academicians, and students interested in the continuing surge of fake news and its, at times, dangerous results.
“Good” sources include those that provide complete, current, factual information, and/or credible arguments based on the information creator’s original research, expertise, and/or use of other reliable sources.
Whether a source is a good choice for you depends on your information needs and how you plan to use the source.
The SIFT* & PICK approach to evaluating sources helps you select quality sources by practicing:
Lateral Reading (SIFT): fact-checking by examining other sources and internet fact-checking tools; and
Vertical Reading (PICK): examining the source itself to decide whether it is the best choice for your needs.
*The SIFT method was created by Mike Caulfield under a CC BY 4.0 International License.
SIFT & PICK by Ellen Carey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Last updated 4/11/23.