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The Failure Of Skepticism: Rethinking Information Literacy And Political Polarization In A Post-Truth Era, Christopher A. Sweet
The Failure Of Skepticism: Rethinking Information Literacy And Political Polarization In A Post-Truth Era, Christopher A. Sweet
Christopher A. Sweet
Fake news has been shown to spread far faster than facts on social media platforms. Rampant fake news has led to deep political polarization and the undermining of basic democratic institutions. Skepticism is an important component of information literacy and has often been pointed to as the antidote to the fake news epidemic. Why are skepticism and information literacy failing so terrifically in this post-truth era? The presenters will summarize research drawn from the fields of psychology and mass communication that shows just how hardwired people are to believe information from their own “tribes” and resist outside contrary information.
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