I don’t know much about this topic and funding in this area is most likely neglected but I’m unsure how to think about the scale of this issue and how to get a sense as to whether it’s getting better/worse/roughly the same year to year.
I think some of the concerns I have are highlighted by this post from Matthew Yglesias suggesting that the danger of misinformation is overblown.
Yes, I agree! I think “too much information and people have a difficult time telling what to trust” is a more accurate and nuanced descriptor than “misinformation”! and that your point about
more general improvements in communication strategies/governance/economic growth could be more important.
would go a really long way.
I wonder that if people could more generally feel like they had a say and a stake in the way that the country is run, to the point where a regular person could advocate for improvements for themselves and their communities, that there would be more understanding and trust in government and public health institutions. I suspect that when people feel like they’re screwed, it makes the situation more ripe for misinformation to affect people. Here’s a paper that talks about how sharers of misinfo are more likely to express existentially based needs (e.g. fear of death or other threats). https://arxiv.org/pdf/2203.10560.pdf
I don’t know much about this topic and funding in this area is most likely neglected but I’m unsure how to think about the scale of this issue and how to get a sense as to whether it’s getting better/worse/roughly the same year to year.
I think some of the concerns I have are highlighted by this post from Matthew Yglesias suggesting that the danger of misinformation is overblown.
The Wellcome Foundation also has a regular survey looking at global trust in science/institutions and found a ~10% increase in the publics trust of science and scientists between 2018 and 2020.
It might be that misinformation is a problem but isn’t the biggest part of the problem with vaccine hesitancy and that more general improvements in communication strategies/governance/economic growth could be more important.
Yes, I agree! I think “too much information and people have a difficult time telling what to trust” is a more accurate and nuanced descriptor than “misinformation”! and that your point about
would go a really long way.
I wonder that if people could more generally feel like they had a say and a stake in the way that the country is run, to the point where a regular person could advocate for improvements for themselves and their communities, that there would be more understanding and trust in government and public health institutions. I suspect that when people feel like they’re screwed, it makes the situation more ripe for misinformation to affect people. Here’s a paper that talks about how sharers of misinfo are more likely to express existentially based needs (e.g. fear of death or other threats). https://arxiv.org/pdf/2203.10560.pdf