false news program is a real problem . Now researchers say we may be able to immunize ourselves against real - looking fabrications the same way we would against any other epidemic . They published their finding in the aptly named journalGlobal Challenges .
track author Sander van der Linden is a societal psychologist at the University of Cambridge . “ Misinformation can be sticky , spreading and replicating like a computer virus , ” hesaidin a statement . “ We wanted to see if we could find a ‘ vaccine ’ by preemptively exposing people to a small amount of the type of misinformation they might feel . ”
Van der Linden and his colleague at Cambridge and George Mason University recruit 2167 player from across the United States and asked them to order their acquaintance and concord with a variety of statement about climate change . Some were genuine , such as : “ 97 % of scientists tally on manmade climate change . ” Others were falsehoods created and circulate by disinformation campaigns , such as : “ There is no consensus on human - caused climate variety . "
Some hoi polloi were shown just the fact ; others saw only the falsehoods . Others see a combination of both in varying proportion . As the participants read through the material , they were asked repeatedly if scientist harmonize about man - made global warming , for estimate which stories they believed .
The results were what you might require . Being shown only the fact increase participants ’ understanding that there is scientific consensus by 20 percentage points . The folks who only saw the falsehoods experienced a 9 - pct fall in that reason .
point participants fact and fiction at the same metre had distressful results : fiction seemed to delete fact out . This is especially problematic at a time when many medium outlet importune on present a faux “ counterbalance ” on issues like clime change , even though the facts are clearlypiled upon one side of the musical scale : climate change is real and due to us .
" It ’s uncomfortable to imagine that misinformation is so stiff in our society , " van der Linden said . " A set of hoi polloi ’s attitudes toward climate alteration are n’t very unwavering . They are aware there is a argument going on , but are n’t needfully sure what to believe . Conflicting messages can leave them feel back at straight one . "
But there ’s good ( existent ) word . The researchers also gave one subgroup of people an ‘ vaccination ’ : a warning that “ some politically motivated group utilise misleading manoeuvre to try out and convince the populace that there is a lot of disagreement among scientists . ”
It worked . hoi polloi who were give this fake - news vaccine reported a 6.5 - pct increment in their understanding that there is scientific consensus on climate variety even after they ’d take misinformation . signally , this upshot hold strong even among hoi polloi who were predispose to disdain mood science .
" There will always be hoi polloi completely resistant to change , ” van der Linden said , " but we lean to find there is way for most people to commute their minds , even just a fiddling . "
