These days, it鈥檚 not difficult to find misleading information 鈥 and in some cases, outright lies 鈥 in the social media, podcasts and TV shows we consume.
While we may think only some people can fall victim to information that is unintentionally or purposefully inaccurate, the truth is that we鈥檙e all susceptible, says , a psychiatrist and acting chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at 脱衣直播.
Understanding the 鈥榤isinformation effect鈥
In the simplest terms, the 鈥渕isinformation effect鈥 happens when your memory becomes less accurate because of new information you receive after an event, Shulman says. More specifically, your recalled episodic memory can change, which alters how you remember what happened.
Take, for example, an accident between a car and a motorcycle that you witnessed. At the time of the event, you may have seen the motorcycle driver cause the accident. But after hearing an account from another witness describing how the car鈥檚 driver was to blame, your memory of the event may change.
鈥淚n this way, your memory can be manipulated and may be a way to build truths out of half-truths,鈥 Shulman says. Using misinformation in this way is nothing new 鈥 it鈥檚 been done at least since ancient Rome by politicians to gain and sustain their power, he adds.
Why false information seems true to us
Today, misinformation is present in many arenas, including public health 鈥 particularly about COVID-19 vaccines. A new by the COVID States Project finds that 16% of Americans still believe misinformation about vaccines. One-third of those who believe vaccine misinformation recognize that they have different views from doctors and scientists.
So, how does this information take hold? The systems that we use to make decisions 鈥 known as heuristics 鈥 make us more susceptible to misinformation, Shulman says. 鈥淭he nature of heuristic thinking is that we develop intellectual shortcuts by which we assess events and other things,鈥 Shulman says.
While heuristics serve a purpose and help us make quick decisions and judgments, they can also contribute to biases. For example, we may use an intellectual shortcut to make assumptions about people from different cultural backgrounds or who possess differing political views.
The opposite of heuristic thinking is phenomenological thinking, a concept that has its roots in philosophy, Shulman says. 鈥淧henomenology is looking at something without any preconceived notions,鈥 he says. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 hard to look at a person, witness an event or read the news or anything else without a preconceived notion. And our heuristic thinking is what really contributes to our preconceived notions and our intellectual shortcuts.鈥
The role of emotions
Our emotions often can play a role in heuristic thinking. 鈥淓motionality contributes to our inability to accept information that doesn鈥檛 feel good to us,鈥 Shulman says. 鈥淲e tend to like what鈥檚 comfortable to us and avoid what鈥檚 uncomfortable to us.鈥
That is why everyone can fall victim to misinformation. 鈥淲e鈥檙e all vulnerable to it because our emotions come into play,鈥 he says.
However, some of us may be more susceptible to misinformation. 鈥淪ome people may be more vulnerable because they are more tuned into their emotional states and because of how much they think or believe according to their feelings,鈥 he says.
When we rely heavily on feelings and heuristic shortcuts, we may be less willing to consider information that goes against our beliefs. 鈥淚t can risk our willingness to hear the other side, consider another鈥檚 point of view or be open to the experience of others,鈥 Shulman says. This can reduce our ability to learn and reinforce division.
Strategies to reduce misinformation
Even if we all tend to believe what we want to believe at times, there are strategies we can use to bypass some of our intellectual shortcuts and think more phenomenologically, Shulman says.
First, he recommends not accepting information at face value and doing your best to put things into context. 鈥淐onsider what you鈥檙e reading or hearing to be misinformation until you are able to delve in and see if there鈥檚 validity to it,鈥 he says. One way to do this is by visiting respected fact-checking websites, such as .
Shulman also recommends finding out who is funding the source of the information, which can help you uncover the motive behind what is being shared. 鈥淪ee where the money is coming from, and you may better understand the motivations,鈥 he says.
And when you鈥檙e presented with information from a different viewpoint, try to listen, keep an open mind and be respectful, he suggests.
Finally, be aware that we all have these automatic responses to processing information. 鈥淥ur tendency is to use our shortcuts because it鈥檚 easy,鈥 he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 harder to control our responses and try to look at things in a more phenomenological sense to understand them.鈥
