Why Is Misinformation A Problem University Of Cambridge

Magda Osman, University of Cambridge, Centre for Science and Policy Email: m.osman@jbs.cam.ac.uk This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed... In the last decade there has been a proliferation of research on misinformation. One important aspect of this work that receives less attention than it should is exactly why misinformation is a problem. To adequately address this question, we must first look to its speculated causes and effects. We examined different disciplines (computer science, economics, history, information science, journalism, law, media, politics, philosophy, psychology, sociology) that investigate misinformation.

The consensus view points to advancements in information technology (e.g., the Internet, social media) as a main cause of the proliferation and increasing impact of misinformation, with a variety of illustrations of the effects. We critically analyzed both issues. As to the effects, misbehaviors are not yet reliably demonstrated empirically to be the outcome of misinformation; correlation as causation may have a hand in that perception. As to the cause, advancements in information technologies enable, as well as reveal, multitudes of interactions that represent significant deviations from ground truths through people’s new way of knowing (intersubjectivity). This, we argue, is illusionary when understood in light of historical epistemology. Both doubts we raise are used to consider the cost to established norms of liberal democracy that come from efforts to target the problem of misinformation.

Keywords: misinformation and disinformation, intersubjectivity, correlation versus causation, free speech The aim of this review is to answer the question, (Why) is misinformation a problem? We begin the main review with a discussion of definitions of “misinformation” because this, in part motivated our pursuit to answer this question. Incorporating evidence from many disciplines helps us to examine the speculated effects and causes of misinformation, which give some indication of why it might be a problem. Answers in the literature reveal that advancements in information technology are the commonly suspected primary cause of misinformation. However, the reviewed literature shows considerable divergence regarding the assumed outcomes of misinformation.

This may not be surprising given the breadth of disciplines involved; researchers in different fields observe effects from different perspectives. The fact that so many effects of misinformation are reported is not a concern as long as the direct causal link between misinformation and the aberrant behaviors it generates is clear. We emphasize that the evidence provided by studies investigating this relationship is weak. This exposes two issues: one that is empirical, as to the effects of misinformation, and one that is conceptual, as to the cause of the problem of misinformation. We argue that the latter issue has been oversimplified. Uniting the two issues, we propose that the alarm regarding the speculated relationship between misinformation and aberrant societal behaviors appears to be rooted in the increased opportunities through advancements in information technology for people...

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt. Probably it was Maurice Switzer but there is not definitive proof. The COVID-19 pandemic spread disruption and forced and/or allowed people to get out of their routines and see the world with new eyes, for good and for ill. Misinformation, while not new, became a term that was featured in headlines and became a part of family dinner conversations more than ever before throughout the pandemic in the US. In this edited volume you will read about dozens of examples of misinformation that you have been exposed to and that have affected your world. While a virus that kills and sickens hundreds of millions of people demonstrates the power and risk of misinformation, it also highlights the mundane ways our assumptions about the way the world works have...

In the early aftermath of the global upheaval caused by the pandemic, one recent trend highlights the goals of this book exceedingly well, and that is calling bullshit on previously beloved and accepted cultural... One example of this is the recent success of the podcast, If Books Could Kill. Recently ranked by Vulture as one of the top new podcasts, this series addresses “the airport bestsellers that captured our hearts and ruined our minds” (If Books Could Kill n.d.). The conceit that the most popular books that bored travelers grab on their way to their gate could be killing us may seem absurd, but of course the power of small, simple ideas lies... No matter why you picked up and read Freakonomics, The Secret, or Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, if you did, those ideas and the arguments behind them have penetrated your mind. Even if you never cracked the binding, many of the central ideas of these works have become embedded in our culture.

As you will see throughout this book, those ideas, whether accurate or not, have an impact on the way information is considered and understood in our world. In this Introduction, we will use similarly simple examples to highlight the main arguments and impetus behind this book to help us consider misinformation in a new light, away from COVID and election deniers. Instead we will highlight, in children’s books and farmers markets, the three intellectual foundations of this work: the everyday, misinformation, and the governing knowledge commons (GKC) framework, beginning by defining and describing each. We believe that by bringing these three perspectives together we can see many of the big problems of our world in a new way that may help us to understand the nuanced realities of...

People Also Search

• (Why) is misinformation a problem? - University of Cambridge
• (Why) Is Misinformation a Problem? - PMC
• (Why) Is Misinformation a Problem? - SAGE Journals
• The Psychology of Misinformation - Cambridge University Press & Assessment
• Countering Misinformation: Evidence, Knowledge Gaps, and Implications ...
• 1 - Introduction - Cambridge University Press & Assessment
• Why Misinformation Must Not Be Ignored - APA PsycNet
• (PDF) (Why) Is Misinformation a Problem? - ResearchGate
• Identifying fake experts: a conceptual framework and case study of ...