The Misinformation Age: How False Beliefs Spread

False beliefs have been around for a long time. In long ago times many people believed in the "vegetable lamb", despite it never existing. Why do people believe things that are not true? And why do they not believe things that are true? And how do we know something is true. Misinformation Age explores how scientific wisdom comes about. It is not all cut and dry. Often things appear true despite them being false. More information gradually can lead to the errosion of false beliefs. However, factors such as feedback loops and echo chambers can also amplify false believes. Beysian models can take new information to help correct false beliefs. However, when information is only selectively released (as is often the case in science and the world), it can help promulgate false beliefs. Some of the most shared political articles (on both sides of the spectrum) are "fake" articles. They often seem to be somewhat plausible, while helping to support a held belief. They help to support predispositions and nudge people more in the direction that they already favor. Science is also highly susceptible. Sometimes research can be sponsored to support a particular viewpoint. Other times, simply pointing out doubts in existing research can be enough. Tobacco companies would use legitimate scientific doubt to help undermine the link between smoking and cancer. The ozone hole was initially not noticed because the data was filtered out as "bad data points". Research that does not confirm a hypothesis is often not published, leaving just the the "novel hypothesis" verification work published. This can make the novel look more common than it is. In news, the novel is most interesting, often because it is rare.