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De Omnibus Dubitandum - Lux Veritas

Sunday, May 24, 2020

Cognitive Ability and Vulnerability to Fake News

Researchers identify a major risk factor for pernicious effects of misinformation.

Scientific American  David Z. Hambrick and Madeline Marquardt

“Fake news” is Donald Trump’s favorite catchphrase. Since the 2016 election, it has appeared in hundreds of tweets by the President, decrying everything from accusations of sexual assault against him to the Russian collusion investigation to reports that he watches up to eight hours of television a day.

Trump may just use “fake news” as a rhetorical device to discredit stories he doesn’t like, but there is evidence that real fake news is a serious problem........ To Read More....

My Take - This is a somewhat long article, and there's some rhetoric involved, but the gist of it is the more information is repeated the more readily believed it becomes, even when people know the information is inaccurate.  The important point to take away from this this:  Given so many are so influenced by fake news it appears the vast majority of people are low in cognitive ability, thus far more influenced by the repetition of inaccurate information presented as fact.

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