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[Misleading] First misinformation susceptibility test finds 'very online' Gen Z and millennials are most vulnerable to fake news (phys.org)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by somefool to c/science

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Researchers want the public to test themselves: https://yourmist.streamlit.app/. Selecting true or false against 20 headlines gives the user a set of scores and a "resilience" ranking that compares them to the wider U.S. population. It takes less than two minutes to complete.

The paper

Edit: the article might be misrepresenting the study and its findings, so it's worth checking the paper itself. (See @realChem 's comment in the thread).

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[–] Spudger@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I recall reading something about fake news and propaganda some decades ago. Can't recall the source book but it goes like this:

If one person tells you something absolutely outrageous you won't believe it. If a second person tells you the same story you will stop and wonder. If a third person, preferably someone you respect, tells you the same you will have no doubts about the story at all.

I have no idea how true this is but if two more people tell you the same thing...

[–] somefool 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That's... That was true for me, I think. I'm old, didn't always have the internet, I trusted books and family.

But I trusted books, which made me a bit of an alien in my family. And then I acquired extreme suspicion of everything when, at the same time, I started paying attention to far-right politics, and my family got sucked into far-right thinking.

Now they went full Qanon, which pretty much radicalized me. Things are so emotionally charged for me now that I have to doubt and cross-check out of sheer and absolute spite. That shit robbed me of my family and I am so, so pissed.

[–] Spudger@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 1 year ago

That's the problem with families. Despite your best efforts at teaching them to have a healthy level of cynicism they can end up believing any old crap they read online. You have to watch out for the warning signs.

[–] lvxferre@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I have no idea how true this [the saying] is but if two more people tell you the same thing…

I'm not sure, but I think that this is largerly true to the masses because we [people in general] are not well trained to think rationally on the matters, so we let fallacies like ad populum stain our beliefs.

[–] Spudger@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Critical thinking should be on every school curriculum.

[–] lvxferre@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I also think so.

Critical thinking is not just something that you use "when you science"; it's something for your whole life. It makes you a better human being, as you understand better the world and people around you. And it would make people extra resilient against misinformation.

[–] Spudger@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 1 year ago

Which is why it isn't taught :)