Debate this: How not to get brainwashed by fake news?

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Debate this: How not to get brainwashed by fake news? Can we train ourselves to be lie detectors? The world is flooded with lies, fakes and misinformation. One academic, Alex Edmans is claiming salvation can only be found in our own minds. He thinks we could solve the misinformation problem if we all just learnt to check our facts and think critically about what we are told, to hold an idea in our heads without automatically accepting it. Fake news is a form of brainwashing and manipulation. A brain has been washed of independent thought by the washing machine. Fake news might feel like a recent development that has only come to prominence since the election of one politician who shall not be named, but the practice of spreading rumours and misinformation is as old as the printed word. People have always twisted the truth, or simply told lies, to get what they want (or change the world). But now we have the ability to share information faster and wider than ever before. It used to be only a few media outlets or government sources that could shape public thought, but now everyone can. And unlike the media or government, none of us are held accountable for what we post. As there are few laws or fines that can be thrown at us for posting lies, there is no incentive to act responsibly in the public sphere. Get likes (or votes) first, worry about potential consequences later. If the self-styled leader of the free world can’t be held to account for regularly tweeting and spreading blatant untruths, then what stops everybody else from doing the same? However, what happens if the environment is virtual, and the possibility of relationships are just limited to those provided by social media? This is another great issue emerging with the exponentially increased availability of Internet in the cell phones that currently outnumber the world population. Less than 10 years ago, in her famous book entitled Mind change (2015), Susan Greenfield, a British neuroscientist, had already underlined the possible problems and effects on the brain of excessive use of Internet and reduced socialization especially amongst millennials and younger generations. Can we train ourselves to be lie detectors? 42% said yes We cannot hope for a world where we can be sure that no-one is lying to us. The only way we can be sure of what we know is if we develop our critical abilities. 58% thought no We live in a specialised world. Most of us do not have the background knowledge that we need to investigate whether complex information is true. This needs a structural solution.

Can we train ourselves to be lie detectors? The world is flooded with lies, fakes and misinformation. One academic, Alex Edmans is claiming salvation can only be found in our own minds. He thinks we could solve the misinformation problem if we all just learnt to check our facts and think critically about what we are told, to hold an idea in our heads without automatically accepting it.

Fake news is a form of brainwashing and manipulation. A brain has been washed of independent thought by the washing machine. 

Fake news might feel like a recent development that has only come to prominence since the election of one politician who shall not be named, but the practice of spreading rumours and misinformation is as old as the printed word.

People have always twisted the truth, or simply told lies, to get what they want (or change the world). But now we have the ability to share information faster and wider than ever before. It used to be only a few media outlets or government sources that could shape public thought, but now everyone can.

And unlike the media or government, none of us are held accountable for what we post. As there are few laws or fines that can be thrown at us for posting lies, there is no incentive to act responsibly in the public sphere. Get likes (or votes) first, worry about potential consequences later. If the self-styled leader of the free world can’t be held to account for regularly tweeting and spreading blatant untruths, then what stops everybody else from doing the same?

However, what happens if the environment is virtual, and the possibility of relationships are just limited to those provided by social media? This is another great issue emerging with the exponentially increased availability of Internet in the cell phones that currently outnumber the world population. Less than 10 years ago, in her famous book entitled Mind change (2015), Susan Greenfield, a British neuroscientist, had already underlined the possible problems and effects on the brain of excessive use of Internet and reduced socialization especially amongst millennials and younger generations.

Can we train ourselves to be lie detectors?

42% said yes

We cannot hope for a world where we can be sure that no-one is lying to us. The only way we can be sure of what we know is if we develop our critical abilities.

58% thought no

We live in a specialised world. Most of us do not have the background knowledge that we need to investigate whether complex information is true. This needs a structural solution.

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