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Book Cover
E-book
Author O'Connor, Cailin, author

Title The misinformation age : how false beliefs spread / Cailin O'Connor, James Owen Weatherall
Published New Haven : Yale University Press, [2019]
©2019

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Description 1 online resource (ix, 266 pages) : illustrations
Contents Introduction : the vegetable lamb of Tartary -- What is truth? -- Polarization and conformity -- The evangelization of peoples -- The social network
Summary Why should we care about having true beliefs? And why do demonstrably false beliefs persist and spread despite consequences for the people who hold them? It might seem that there's an obvious reason that true beliefs matter: false beliefs will hurt you. But if that's right, then why is it (apparently) irrelevant to many people whether they believe true things or not? In an age riven by "fake news," "alternative facts," and disputes over the validity of everything from climate change to the size of inauguration crowds, the authors argue that social factors, not individual psychology, are what's essential to understanding the persistence of false belief and that we must know how those social forces work in order to fight misinformation effectively.--adapted from publisher's description
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 215-250) and index
Notes Online resource; title from electronic title page (ProQuest Ebook Central, viewed January 24, 2019)
Subject Errors -- Social aspects
Errors -- Psychological aspects
PSYCHOLOGY -- Cognitive Psychology.
SCIENCE -- Cognitive Science.
PSYCHOLOGY -- Social Psychology.
Errors -- Psychological aspects
Form Electronic book
Author Weatherall, James Owen, author.
ISBN 9780300241006
0300241003
0300234015
9780300234015
Other Titles How false beliefs spread