Summary of Cailin O'Connor & James Owen Weatherall's The Misinformation Age

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

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#1 The Vegetable Lamb was a myth that persisted for centuries, despite being debunked by several leading naturalists. It is still felt today among some that certain foods can cause cancer. -> The Vegetable Lamb was a myth that persisted for centuries, despite being debunked by several leading naturalists.

#2 Pope Endorses Trump. -> On September 26, 2016, about six weeks before Donald Trump was elected president of the United States, a website called ETF News posted a story with the headline Pope Francis Shocks World, Endorses Donald Trump for President, Releases Statement. The article was shared or liked on Facebook 960,000 times.

#3 This is a book about how people believe things that just aren’t true, and how that belief can persist, spread, and impact the world. -> This may sound like a truism, but it is important to remember that our beliefs about the world affect how we make decisions every day. For example, do you eat sushi while pregnant. That depends on whether you believe that the omega-3 fatty acids in fish will promote your baby’s brain development or not.

#4 Beliefs matter in many ways, and people’s beliefs affect their decisions and the world around them. Not all beliefs are created equal: some are false, and some are true. But all of them have the potential to persist and spread, even if they are not based on any personal experience whatsoever.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Oct 4, 2022
• ISBN: 9798350032239

IRB Media

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Insights on Cailin O'Connor & James Owen Weatherall's The Misinformation Age

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The Vegetable Lamb was a myth that took nearly four centuries to debunked. It was reported as fact by leading naturalists and botanical scholars, who claimed to have studied it and seen its wool.

#2

The most-shared election-related article on Facebook was a Washington Post opinion piece titled Trump’s History of Corruption Is Mind-Boggling. So Why Is Clinton Supposedly the Corrupt One. It was shared 849,000 times. Clinton lost eighteen US states by fewer than 250,000 votes, and she lost Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania by fewer than 50,000 votes each.

#3

The stories posted on ETF News were not only shared online, but also promoted as trending topics on Facebook. These stories were not only shared online, but also promoted as trending topics on Facebook.

#4

Beliefs also matter in economic policy, public health, and the environment. If you believe false things about the world, and make decisions based on those beliefs, those decisions will not yield the outcomes you expect and desire.

#5

When we open channels for social communication, we immediately face a trade-off. If we want to have as many true beliefs as possible, we should trust everything we hear. But if we want to minimize the number of false beliefs we have, we should not believe anything.

#6

Mass media, political propaganda, and industrial propaganda are all