The Misinformation Age cover art

The Misinformation Age

How False Beliefs Spread

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The Misinformation Age

By: Cailin O’Connor, James Owen Weatherall
Narrated by: Chelsea Stephens
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About this listen

The social dynamics of "alternative facts": why what you believe depends on who you know

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.

©2019 Cailin O’Connor and James Owen Weatherall (P)2019 Tantor History History & Philosophy Media Studies Political Science Politics & Government Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Science Social Psychology & Interactions Social Sciences

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All stars
Most relevant
Must read for public servants, media experts and anyone interested in 21st century democracy - draws from history to current affairs, with accessible stories underpinning network effects and underpinned by philosophy of science.

Insightful and timely

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Well worth hearing, but not rigorously thought. Uses methods it condemns. Harsh, unsympathetic narration whose coldness fails to give the air of authority the presenter may have aimed at. Will buy book as this matters to me, lots of good examples and information but needs critical reading because the authors have a slant and bend the materials occasionally

Important story badly presented

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Great explanations of how truth / untruth is spread and supported throughout society.
Well worth a read.

Probably more useful now than ever!

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... getting past the readers accent. Thank god there is no sentence with both the words ...error... and ... mirror... in the text. It takes me 5 minutes each time I start listening to suppress my adverse reaction to the number of needless glotal stops and strangulated vowels. I'm sure her voice is perfect for some. But for me the choice of reader seriously detracts and distracts from the content of the text. And content should be the most important thing.

I had to work hard at ...

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