TY  - BOOK
AU  - O'Connor,Cailin
AU  - Weatherall,James Owen
TI  - The misinformation age : : how false beliefs spread 
SN  - 0300251858 (paperback)
AV  - BF 323 O18m 2019
U1  - 153.74 
PY  - 2019///]
CY  - [New Haven]
PB  - Yale University Press
KW  - Errors
KW  - Social aspects
KW  - Errores
KW  - Aspectos sociales
KW  - Psychological aspects
KW  - Aspectos psicológicos
KW  - Truthfulness and falsehood
KW  - Falsedad y veracidad
KW  - Information behavior
KW  - Comportamiento informativo
KW  - Common fallacies
KW  - Falacias comunes
N1  - Includes bibliographical references (pages 215-250) and index; Introduction: The vegetable lamb of Tartary
What is truth?
Polarization and conformity
The evangelization of peoples
The social network
N2  - "Why should we care about having true beliefs? And why do demonstrably false beliefs persist and spread despite 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 belief. 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? In an age riven by "fake news," "alternative facts," and disputes over the validity of everything from climate change to the size of inauguration crowds, the authors argue that social factors, not individual psychology, are what's essential to understanding the persistence of false belief and that we must know how those social forces work in order to fight misinformation effectively."--Publisher's description
ER  -