The Misinformation Age - How False Beliefs Spread (Hardcover)

The social dynamics of "alternative facts": why what you believe depends on who you know "Empowering and thoroughly researched, this book offers useful contemporary analysis and possible solutions to one of the greatest threats to democracy."-Kirkus Reviews Editors' choice, New York Times Book Review * Recommended reading, Scientific American Why should we care about having true beliefs? And why do demonstrably false beliefs persist and spread despite bad, even fatal, consequences for the people who hold them? Philosophers of science Cailin O'Connor and James Weatherall argue that social factors, rather than individual psychology, are what's essential to understanding the spread and persistence of false beliefs. 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? The Misinformation Age, written for a political era riven by "fake news," "alternative facts," and disputes over the validity of everything from climate change to the size of inauguration crowds, shows convincingly that what you believe depends on who you know. If social forces explain the persistence of false belief, we must understand how those forces work in order to fight misinformation effectively.

General

Imprint:	Yale University Press
Country of origin:	United States
Release date:	December 2018
Authors:	Cailin O'Connor • James Owen Weatherall
Dimensions:	216 x 148 x 26mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Hardcover - Cloth over boards
Pages:	280
ISBN-13:	978-0-300-23401-5
Categories:	Books > Reference & Interdisciplinary > Communication studies > Media studies Books > Social sciences > Psychology > Social, group or collective psychology Books > Science & Mathematics > Science: general issues > History of science
LSN:	0-300-23401-5
Barcode:	9780300234015

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